


The Rose of Sharon

by Anath_Tsurugi



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 10, Anal Sex, And what happened then?, Angel/demon offspring, BAMF Castiel, Babies, Canon-Typical Violence, Crowley Being Crowley, Crucifixion, Dean needs some serious psychoanalysis, Demon Charlie, Demon Dean Winchester, Destiel - Freeform, Drowning, Eating Disorder, Mark of Cain, Metaphysical Sex, Metatron's got another spell, Mpreg, Multi, Oral Sex, Original Female Characters - Freeform, Original Male Characters - Freeform, PTSD, Pregnancy, Reactions to trauma, Sexual Coersion, So what else is new?, Suicidal Thoughts, Taking over Hell, Torture, Well in Supernatural they say, Wiccans, Wings, Witches, attempts to kill an unborn child, dubcon, knights of hell, references to a minor being kicked out of his home, that Crowley's small heart grew three sizes that day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-13
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-25 05:54:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 139,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2610842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anath_Tsurugi/pseuds/Anath_Tsurugi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Go, pretty child, and bear this flower<br/>Unto thy little savior;<br/>And tell Her, by that bud now blown,<br/>She is the Rose of Sharon known."</p><p>Castiel has just about given up hope of ever finding Dean when he suddenly hears him calling out to him. What Cas finds upon answering the prayer, though, is both a blessing and a nightmare. Now impregnated with demon seed and hunted by everyone, Cas must find a way to save Dean Winchester before the former hunter destroys Heaven and Hell in his name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. If I Should Die Before I Wake...

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it finally happened...just as I always knew it would happen when it did happen. I have been dragged, kicking and screaming into the Supernatural fandom...and this little fic here is the result. Well...let's go for a drive and see where we end up.

A month.

It had been a month since Dean Winchester's death...a month since he'd walked out of the bunker, leaving them nothing but a note. Both Sam and Castiel had received calls from Crowley, but to hear the truth from him was somehow almost worse.

Castiel made a point not to think of the brief time that had elapsed between learning of Dean's death and learning of his resurrection as a demon. He had experienced a great deal of sorrow in his long life, but in the moment Metatron had told him Dean was dead, he had felt a horrible pain grip his heart...a pain unlike anything he'd ever known. However brief that time had been, it had well and truly been his darkest moment.

In those last few weeks, he and Sam had been canvasing the country, searching desperately for any sign of Dean, but so far he and Crowley had eluded them. Sam was currently pursuing a lead on the West Coast while he and Hannah were following up on a tip in Iowa. He wasn't completely sure why, but Hannah insisted on sticking with him. Something about him not taking proper care of himself...as if he mattered at all. Nothing was more important to him than saving Dean, not even his own barely flickering grace.

After getting off the phone with Sam from their weekly check-in call, the angel found himself leaning heavily against his car, breathing a sigh of frustration and exhaustion. He'd never been more determined, but at the same time, he'd never been closer to giving up hope.

_Dean, I don't know how much longer I can last...but I cannot die yet. There's one more thing I need to do before I die. There's something I need to say to you...and I cannot die with it unsaid. You must know...how much I-_

Castiel was fairly certain that whatever Hannah was saying was important, but he had to admit he stopped listening the moment he heard Dean's voice in his head.

_Hey! Angelface!_

" _Dean?_ " he whispered in shock, immediately standing up from the car. He could see Hannah turning to him in surprise, see her mouth forming words, but he couldn't hear her. All he could hear was Dean fucking Winchester's damnable, blessed voice.

_Oh, good. You can hear me. I didn't think this whole prayer shenanigan was gonna work anymore._

Cas _wanted_ to feel relief at hearing Dean's voice again, wanted _some_ kind of reassurance after the weeks of agony and _not knowing,_ but instead of being relieved, all he could feel was harsh, icy _fear._ This person speaking to him...he had Dean's voice, but it somehow wasn't him. This was not the man that he knew...that he _cared_ for. Something was different...wrong... _horribly_ wrong.

Even so, even knowing that something awful had happened and that it was downright _foolish_ to fly to Dean as fast as he could, that was exactly what he did. Without saying a word to Hannah, he turned on the spot and was just gone.

At first, he didn't understand what had happened. All he knew was that he was completely drained and couldn't even summon the energy to remain upright when he reappeared. He collapsed to the floor, too weak to move.

"Huh. Didn't know you could still do that, Angelface," the familiar and unfamiliar voice said from somewhere above him. "How much grace did you burn up pullin' that little stunt?"

"What...just happened?" the angel barely managed to make himself ask, fighting to sit up and failing. When he finally managed to blink his eyes open, he found Dean sitting across from him on a bed. They looked to be in some motel room or other. The former hunter just smirked at him as he tossed the First Blade up and down. Castiel found he couldn't hold the gaze of those black eyes for very long. They just _weren't Dean._

"Oh, Castiel, if you don't know, I sure as Hell don't. I was expectin' to have to wait a bit longer for you to get to me, but hey, here you are. We can talk now."

"Dean, what...what _happened_ to you?" he heard himself asking. "First you're dead, then you're a demon. I don't...what _happened?_ "

"Don't sit there and act like you don't know. You _knew_ this would happen. Didn't you. Castiel?" the demon pressed as he stood from the bed, each syllable sharp with accusation. Even though he laid the First Blade down before beginning to move toward him, Cas was no less afraid. He tried to move back. Couldn't. He was as weak as a kitten after that unexplained teleport: weak, frightened...and guilt-ridden.

"No!" he tried to argue as Dean knelt in front of him, black eyes glittering in the dim light from the single lamp. "I didn't know _what_ would happen. I tried to stop it. I couldn't-"

"Save your breath, angel," Dean snapped at him, seizing his collar and slamming him back against the wall. Cas heard the _crack_ of his head against the hard surface more than he felt the pain of it. "Fuck knows you ain't got many of 'em left. So we shouldn't waste time. I didn't call you here to put you on trial."

"You...prayed to me," Cas whispered through the blinding pain that had hold of his head.

"What?"

"You prayed...to me," he repeated, though Dean's face was swimming in and out of focus before his eyes. "How?"

"Wasn't easy. Take the pain you're feelin' now and multiply that by a hundred. That's what it felt like. I honestly didn't think it'd work, but now I've got you here, so we can get on with things."

"What things?"

Dean didn't answer him right away. What he did was to drag him across the room and toss him unceremoniously on the bed. Then he was straddling him and holding the First Blade to his throat.

"Castiel, this thing wants me to kill you so bad, you got no idea. Any guesses on why I _haven't?_ "

Unable to bear the black gaze any longer, Cas turned away from him, squeezing his eyes as tightly shut as he could.

"Look at me, angel," he hissed in his ear, flicking his tongue out to lick along the shell of it. Cas' eyes shot open, but he didn't look up.

"No."

"I'm not gonna ask again," he threatened, pressing the blade down just a little more harshly.

"Dean... _please_..."

" _LOOK! AT! ME!_ " the demon snarled, the fingers of his free hand digging sharply into the Angel's arm, forcing Cas to look up. "There. That's better. So you _don't_ wanna guess why I'm not slittin' your throat? Huh, Angelface?"

"Nothing you say will matter," he said, trying to summon up as much righteous anger as he could manage, though his predominant emotion at the moment was pain...a soul-deep agony over what had become of this man. "You are _not_ Dean Winchester!"

The demon leered down at him as he shifted the blade away, laying it down beside the angel's head. Then he moved in his now free hand to run a strangely gentle thumb along his jawline. "That's right. Keep tellin' yourself that. Tell yourself you're some virtuous warrior of God who got defiled by a demon from the Pit. Tell yourself you tried to fight. Tell yourself whatever you need to hear so you won't have to think about how much you _enjoyed_ this."

"What...what are you going to do?" Cas couldn't quite stop himself from asking, even though he knew...of _course_ he knew. He knew what this meant. He had known for a long time – _wanted_ for a long time, but had never had the courage to express that desire. Dean deserved so much better than a broken angel. But this...this _was not_ Dean. If he let this happen...

"Don't play coy with me, Castiel. You know exactly what's gonna happen here tonight, and you _know_ you want it. I've wanted it, too. I've just been too much of a pussy before now to do anything about it. But you know what I decided after a few beers? Fuck that. That Dean's gone. I'm _takin'_ what I want, Angelface, and what I want is _you_...screamin' my name while I fuck you," he said before seizing Cas' lips in a harsh, demanding kiss.

In that moment, Castiel was almost relieved that he couldn't move...because he didn't _want_ to know what he would have done had he had the use of his arms. Would he have fought back...or would he have returned that embrace just as hungrily, pouring forth years of unspent, unspoken longing? Even knowing that Dean wasn't in his right mind, that he was no more able to consent to this than he was, would he have gone willingly into the other man's arms? He couldn't know...and he _feared_ to know. So he pushed all thought of consent and choice from his mind, allowing himself a single, tiny spark of joy as he and Dean kissed. Likely, it was the last he would ever know. When the demon pulled away from him, he could already feel tears pricking at his eyes.

"Dean...please...don't do this," he begged quietly, not able to look away as Dean pulled off the jacket and shirt he was wearing. He smirked down at him as he boastfully bared his muscles for him.

"And yet there you lay, eyeballin' me like a kid in a candy shop. Like what you see, angel?" he asked mockingly as he leaned forward again, subtly grinding his hips against Cas'. He could already feel how hard Dean was, and as much as he didn't want this to happen, he could feel his own body responding in kind. The way the demon's leer shifted told him he could feel him rising to meet him. "Guess you kinda gave yourself away with that one. I know you're not gonna tell me you don't want this," he said, grinding a little more fiercely as he pushed the coat from Cas' shoulders.

"No...I _do_ want this. You can't know just how long I've wanted this. But Dean, this _can't happen_...not like this," he struggled to explain as Dean propped him up against the headboard, working to remove the rest of his clothing. As he worked, he laughed.

"Not like this? What are you? Some little virgin still hopeful about her first time? Better drop those thoughts right now...or it's only gonna hurt more," he warned him, and before he began to pull the angel's pants down he glanced up at him briefly, and Castiel was almost certain it was only wishful thinking, but he thought, just for a moment, he might have seen those demon eyes soften.

"Dean, _please!_ It isn't myself I'm worried about. If you do this...you'll regret it forever. I have no wish to be the cause of that."

"So _fight back,_ Angelface," he challenged, taking in the sight of the angel spread out naked beneath him with appreciative eyes. "Oh, that's right. You can't. You're _too weak._ "

"Dean-"

"Why do you keep sayin' my name like that? Hopin' for a miracle, maybe? Think I'll hear my lover's voice and just magically wake up from all this? Gotta stop livin' in the past, _Castiel._ Not gonna be any raising from Perdition this time," he said as he undid his belt and unzipped his pants, baring himself with a sneer.

Cas swallowed heavily before looking up into those soulless black eyes once more, steeling himself for what he knew was coming. "I know...you are no longer Dean Winchester...but...you _prayed_ to me. That shouldn't have been possible. I have seen Dean do the impossible and if anyone could retain their soul after becoming a demon, I believe he could. I speak now to whatever part of him remains. I _will_ get you back. My faith is with you, Dean...always...no matter what happens," he declared before closing his eyes and leaning his head back, prepared for whatever the demon was going to do to him.

_I am ready._

Dean didn't speak after that. He just fell on top of Cas, leaving no inch of him unravished. Preparation was painful at first and their coupling was rough and harsh, but as he slowly regained the use of his hands, he found himself clinging to Dean with all the strength he could muster. It wasn't much, but he clung to every moment of pleasure the former hunter gave him.

"That's right, angel. _Grip me tight,_ " the demon snarled mockingly at him as he thrust into him over and over again.

The angel groaned in both pain and pleasure as he and Dean moved together on the cheap motel bed. He could do nothing but obey; he couldn't _not_ grip this man tight...couldn't not hold him as close as he possibly could while the beast within still allowed it. As painful as it was, he couldn't imagine a more exquisite pleasure.

"Dean...ah...Dean... _Dean!_ " he cried out softly, not screaming as the demon had anticipated, but praying. Each broken cry was a prayer for Dean's safety...for his sanity...his deliverance. It didn't matter whether this prayer was heard or not. All that mattered was that he hold that wish...that resolution...firmly inside of himself.

Castiel felt the burn of the demon seed inside of him when Dean finally finished in him. The pain was awful, near unbearable...like a shot of poison that caused his insides to burn up, but he bore the agony in silence. He expected more taunting from the demon, but was instead shocked when he fell asleep in his arms.

"Dean?" he called softly, worried. He shouldn't need sleep and yet he seemed to have fallen into a very deep sleep, but before the angel could worry anymore, he found that he was also very tired. He didn't know that he'd _ever_ felt this exhausted. Before falling deep asleep himself, he pressed several tender kisses to Dean's face, taking the chance while he still could.

And even in sleep, Castiel held Dean as tightly as he possibly could.

_I'm sorry I let this happen...so sorry. But I swear to you...I won't fail again. We'll make this right._

Neither of the sleepers could have known it, but in this act of torment, passion, and love, they had changed the course of the world. No one could have possibly known, but when the two of them awoke, the world would be a very different place. For the first time since the beginning of creation, an angel and a demon had lain down together in love. Even though it had been a moment of agony between the two, an angel and a demon had still fallen together, and something that never should have happened was soon to happen.

XxX

When Sam Winchester had set out on his desperate search for his wayward brother, he had of course expected to face obstacles, but one of the last obstacles he'd expected to step into his path was Hannah.

She approached him when he was exiting a gas station, a desperation about her that one didn't often see in angels.

"Sam Winchester, I need your help."

Sam groaned as he shoved his way past her. "Why don't you shout the name Winchester louder so they can hear it down in the Pit. I'm a little busy right now."

"Please," she continued to press, immediately following after him."I've driven all night. I did not know what else to do."

"Seriously, not right now. Why can't Cas help you? Did you ditch him again?"

"That's why I need your help, Sam. Castiel is missing."

Sam's relentless march toward his car ground to an immediate halt at this. Feeling worry start to rise in his throat, he turned to face the angel. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night, after he got off the phone with you, he vanished."

"What do you mean he vanished?"

"Just what I said. We were talking and he just froze up all of a sudden and his face went completely ashen. He only said one word."

"What did he say?"

"Dean."

At this, Sam felt the fear crawling up his throat harden into a solid lump. "What?" he whispered.

"That's all he said, just your brother's name...as if he'd called out to him. Then he turned as if he meant to look for him and he just disappeared. It was almost as if he'd...flown somewhere," she struggled to explain, trying to brush some of her now unkempt hair out of her face.

"But...that's impossible, isn't it? You guys don't have wings anymore."

"Exactly. If Castiel didn't do this of his own accord, then someone must have taken him. I'm afraid whoever has him...might be hurting him. He hasn't called out to me even once. I have no idea where he is."

"And Heaven can't find him?"

"Of course not. Would I have come to you if this was something we could handle?" she snapped at him.

"Guess not," he murmured absently. The more pressing question for him was why Cas had called out Dean's name. Was it possible that Cas was with his brother? In that scenario, he couldn't guess whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he was leaning all the more solidly toward bad thing. Finally, Sam took hold of the angel's arm and led her to his car. "Come on. The only thing we can really do just now is keep following this lead I've got. I'm not-"

Sam's words were cut off when his phone started ringing. He stole a brief glance at the number and froze for a split second.

666.

Crowley.

There was no way this was a coincidence.

"What do you want?" he asked upon answering the phone.

"Ah, Moose, always such a polite child. How's your little angel companion? Out of sorts, I imagine."

"Where's Dean? Where's Cas? _What did you do to them?_ " he demanded.

"Oh, my. And here I thought it was just Squirrel who'd become one of mine. Temper, temper."

"Don't make me ask again, Crowley."

"Nothing, nothing, not a thing. What those two have done, they've done to themselves."

"What the hell are you _talking_ about? What happened?"

"Oh, nothing special. Just what everyone's been saying would happen ever since the pair of them clapped eyes on each other. Only what with dear Squirrel becoming a demon, the results were somewhat...unanticipated, shall we say. I'd advise you make your way to the little lost angel as fast as you can. I daresay he'll be needing your help before too long."

"Where are they?"

XxX

In his first hazy moments of consciousness, Castiel didn't remember that anything was wrong. He was curled up in bed with Dean, cradling him close...and it was only after he'd pressed a kiss to his ear that he remembered exactly _why_ that was wrong.

"Mm, you and my new darling have a fun night, Sleeping Beauty?"

Cas' head snapped up at the sound of Crowley's voice. He looked over to see the King of Hell sitting in a badly-stuffed green armchair on the far side of the room. Without even thinking, the angel shifted into a protective crouch over Dean's still comatose body, even though he recalled distantly that Dean didn't _need_ protection...not from Crowley, leastwise.

"You," he growled quietly.

"Yes, me. Thank you for explaining that to me. I wouldn't have realized it. But do tell, Castiel...how _was_ it?"

"You cannot think to-"

"Oh, but I can. I don't know what the stakes were like in Heaven, but we've had a pot going in Hell for some time now and I upped my ante quite a bit when this whole Mark of Cain business began. Sure enough, the two of you didn't disappoint me. So _spill_ , little angel. Pun not intended, of course," he said, chuckling at his little joke as he got to his feet.

"It is not something you could ever understand, demon," Cas snapped, glaring at Crowley.

"What? _Love?_ " he taunted as he stalked slowly toward the bed. "More blood has been spilled for love than any other cause under the sun. Is that what you'd like me to understand? Besides, you've got a very strange definition of the word if you call what our little squirrel did to you love. Honestly, he's been talking about nothing else but jumping your bones these last few weeks. Bit annoying, really."

Even though Cas knew this was neither the time nor place, he couldn't quite help the faint fluttering sensation he felt in the heart muscle. "He was...talking about me?"

Crowley rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Non. Stop. Everybody he got into bed with, he was on about you afterward. He's had a taste of every girl from here to Albuquerque. A few _boys_ , too. Good thing he finally got _that_ out of his system. But all the things he was saying about _you_ , heh, almost made _me_ want to sleep with an angel again. I shudder to think of how long he's been bottling that up, and now that he's got no inhibitions, well...you can see the results. You should be thanking me, really."

" _Thanking_ you?" Cas repeated incredulously, feeling a spike of pain in his heart. "You want me to _thank you_ for turning Dean Winchester into a demon?"

"That was no fault of mine," Crowley pointed out. "He was the one who made the decision to bear the Mark. He did this to himself."

"But _you_ were the one who led him to it. What I _should_ do is _kill_ you," he snarled.

"Ah, ah, ah, we seem to be forgetting something. You and Moose were the ones who didn't _stop_ him using the Blade. Granted, it wouldn't have been easy, but you could have put a stop to it...except that you _knew_ it was the only way you could defeat your enemies. You let it go on until it was too late. If anyone's to blame for this, Castiel...it's _you,_ " the demon hissed in his face.

" _No!_ " the angel cried out in anguish, turning away from the King of Hell. "That's not true."

"If it weren't true, you wouldn't be looking away from me in guilt and shame. Face it, angel boy. You _let_ this happen."

Castiel didn't want to admit it to himself, much less the demon, but Crowley was giving voice to the thoughts that had plagued him ever since Metatron had told him Dean was dead. Had his own search for Dean been nothing more than an attempt to turn away from that guilt...to block it out and not have to face it? Whatever the case might have been, now wasn't the time to be thinking about it. Slowly turning to look at the demon, the angel glared at him again. "What are you doing here, Crowley?"

At this, Crowley sighed, moving one hand up to rub at his forehead and the other down to rest at his belt. "In truth, I'd been hoping to find you broken and the Winchester cured of his obsession with you so we'd have all this disgusting UST water under the bridge and we could get back to what our proper roles are. Unfortunately, that seems not to be the case. No...we've had a completely different outcome altogether," he said, rubbing his temple in frustration.

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked.

"I assure you, I never would have allowed this tryst to happen if I'd known what would come of it. I assumed it was a simple matter, but, well...to assume makes an ass out of you and me," he said with a dark chuckle. "Things between Heaven and Hell are going to get even more complicated than they already were. As if we didn't need _that_ to deal with."

"Crowley... _what are you talking about?_ " Cas repeated.

The King of Hell looked at him strangely for a moment, but his expression quickly shifted to what Dean would have referred to as a shit-eating grin. "Oh, my dear little angel, you mean to tell me you...haven't noticed it yet? I suppose the term 'little' angel is even more accurate than ever."

"Noticed _what?_ " the angel pressed.

"You're looking quite spry for an angel whose stolen grace is just about burnt up. Aren't you even the tiniest bit sore from what Dean did to you...or exhausted from that unexpected flight?"

Now that Crowley brought it up, Cas found that he was right. Dean had been very rough with him last night, but there wasn't even the smallest hint of pain or exhaustion. He was healed...and when he sought a deeper reason as to why, he finally realized the truth. His grace had been restored.

"How?" he wondered aloud, gazing down at his hands in shock. It shouldn't have been possible, but here it was.

"Dig a little deeper," Crowley encouraged with a wicked sneer. "I think you'll see the truth."

Cas did so, but when he finally did discover the truth, he wasn't sure whether to be horrified or elated. All he could really manage to do was grip his stomach in shock.

"How...how can it be?" he asked, feeling the presence of the separate grace within his being. It wasn't his...but it was still somehow a part of him. It had come from him...and from Dean, but it wasn't just grace he was sensing. He could feel the presence of the demon seed intertwined with the grace, but how two such disparate things could exist together in a single entity was far beyond him.

"Your guess is as good as mine, sweetheart. Whatever the case may be, though, one thing's for certain. Such a thing has never happened before. A being like this has never before existed, so there's no telling what it will become. And of course it would be the spawn of the angel and his hunter."

"This...this is... _Dean's_ child," Cas said slowly, mindlessly running his fingers over the flesh of his belly.

"Well, sure...if you want to call this thing a child," Crowley said in a somewhat bemused tone, a little surprised at the angel's lack of response.

"We...created a life."

"Oh, dear. Sharp as a tac, you are. Castiel, you are not hearing me," he said as he firmly gripped the angel's shoulders in his hands. "The existence of this child will rattle the foundations of creation. Both Heaven and Hell will be turned upside down. If we thought the wars up until now were bad, they'll be _nothing_ compared to what's coming. There will be _blood_ for this child. What I really ought to do is just kill it now and save myself the headache."

This was what finally snapped Castiel out of his shocked stupor. When he saw Crowley's hand drop back to his belt, no doubt reaching for his gun, the angel quickly called his angel blade to his hand, so that when the King of Hell had the barrel of his angel-killing gun pressed against his stomach, he had the tip of his blade pressed against his throat. Crowley just sneered at him.

"Ooh, Cas, you're not usually this fun. I think I like this new game."

"I will allow _no harm_ to come to this child," Castiel said fiercely, digging the angel blade in just deep enough to draw a trickle of blood. Crowley just laughed as he lowered the gun, slowly taking a step back.

"My, but that mothering instinct did kick in quickly. A demon-angel hybrid? You don't even know if this thing is _worth_ protecting."

"This child...is more than the evil that has befallen Dean Winchester. It is a part of the good man that he once was...that he will be again. If that weren't true, then there's no way the child could have been conceived. I think you know that...and that's why you're afraid of it. It means you don't have complete control over him."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm afraid of it," Crowley said, though the look in his eyes when his gaze flitted down to Cas' stomach said otherwise. "In fact, I hadn't even really intended to kill it. I'm rather interested to see how this plays out. After all, a child like this could be of great use to me."

"You will never _touch_ our child, Crowley," the angel hissed at him. "So long as a part of the Dean I knew exists in this world, I _will protect it._ No matter what it takes."

"You're sure about that? Will Heaven even allow such a creature to exist? I know they don't take too kindly to the Nephilim. There's no way they'll condone the offspring of an angel and a demon. Will you stand alone before the fury of your fellow angels?" the demon asked, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Yes," Castiel answered without hesitation. "I have faced down Heaven's rage before. I will do it again. As I said, I _will not_ let this child die. I _won't!_ "

"Now that I will truly enjoy seeing. I make no guarantees of aid, though. I'm going to stay out of it for now. Let the chips fall where they may, as it were. I haven't decided exactly what it all means yet."

"If you're just going to stand there, then you can leave. I'm sure I'm keeping you from the business of wreaking havoc," Cas said, turning away from the demon once more in favor of gazing down at the one who still slept soundly on the bed. In this state, Dean actually looked peaceful, which was so rare a state for him, the sight almost made Cas want to weep. There wasn't even the faintest hint of the monster slumbering within.

"Go on, just do it. You know you want to," Crowley egged him on, already having taken several steps back.

"What?"

"Share one last bittersweet kiss with your precious lover. Tell him how much you love him and vow to save him. Go ahead; I promise I won't look," the demon said as he turned around.

Cas didn't really care if he looked or not. He would have done it anyway. Leaning down over Dean, he briefly ran his fingers through his hair before pressing his lips to the former hunter's, kissing him with all the tenderness and love he hadn't been permitted last night.

_It's as he says, Dean. I love you more than life itself. I will not let this be your fate._

Trailing down the side of the sleeping demon's face, he pressed a gentle kiss to his ear before whispering, "I love you."

"Done," Crowley's voice resounded throughout the room, and with a snap of his fingers, Cas suddenly found himself alone in the room with no trace that anyone but him had ever been there.

For a moment, the angel couldn't help wondering if he'd hallucinated the whole thing, but he knew that wasn't true the moment he collapsed back upon the sheets. Dean's scent still clung to the rough fabric, mingled with his own. More than this, though, he could still feel the newborn flame of grace flickering inside of him, resonating with his own reborn grace. This flame was only just beginning to grow...just beginning to be...but already it flickered against his heart with the warmth of the sun and the moon. But it also burned with the hint of something dark and dangerous. A black flame with a heart of pure love. In all of creation, no angel had ever possessed grace like this...and no demon had ever held a darkness quite like this. This child was well and truly something new.

_Dean's child...his child...my child..._ _**our** _ _child. Our baby._

The newly impregnated angel had no idea what was correct to feel in this moment. Trapped somewhere between fear and love, he ultimately chose love. He didn't care what anyone else said or thought. He loved this child...as he loved Dean. He would always love it. This flicker of darkly burning grace was something precious he and Dean had created together, and he knew already that he would willingly give up his own life to protect it. So for a long while after, Castiel just lay there on the bed, loving that beautiful flicker of dark light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...any interest in seeing where it goes?


	2. Sweet Angel Conceived

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:  
> "Dean...please...don't do this," Cas begged quietly...  
> "So fight back, Angelface," Dean challenged, taking in the sight of the angel spread out naked beneath him with appreciative eyes. "Oh, that's right. You can't. You're too weak."...  
> "That's why I need your help, Sam. Castiel is missing."...  
> "Castiel, you are not hearing me," Crowley said as he firmly gripped the angel's shoulders in his hands. "The existence of this child will rattle the foundations of creation. Both Heaven and Hell will be turned upside down. If we thought the wars up until now were bad, they'll be nothing compared to what's coming. There will be blood for this child. What I really ought to do is just kill it now and save myself the headache."...  
> "You will never touch our child, Crowley," the angel hissed at him. "So long as a part of the Dean I knew exists in this world, I will protect it. No matter what it takes."...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, reception so far has been nice and enthusiastic. Thank you for all your comments and favorites. Let's keep going!

Sam drove through most of the day to reach the address Crowley had given him, and he honestly had no idea what to expect when he and Hannah approached the motel room the King of Hell had told them about. There was always the very great possibility that this was all a trap, so Sam was armed to the teeth, hoping to be ready for whatever they might possibly find behind the door.

"Dean! Cas! Are you in there?" he called out as he rapped on the door.

"Castiel, please answer us," Hannah pleaded when there was no response.

"Nothing. You ready for this?" Sam asked the angel, who nodded and pressed her hand to the door, instantly unlocking it. Sam went in first, angel blade at the ready for whatever might attack them. The only thing they saw upon entering the room, though, was Castiel. He was sitting on the bed and staring out the window, not really seeming to see what was outside it.

"Cas?" Sam called hesitantly, lowering the blade, but not putting it away. Slowly, Cas turned to look at him.

"Sam?" he whispered, as if he wasn't sure he recognized him.

"Cas...where's Dean?"

"Gone," he said, turning back to the window.

"But he was here?" Sam pressed, finally putting the blade away.

"Yes."

"Castiel," Hannah started, moving into the room and kneeling before the dazed angel, "he did not...harm you...did he?"

"No," Cas said, shaking his head as a strange, sad smile drifted across his face. Sam couldn't help but notice the way his hands gripped the rumpled sheets a little tighter. "He did nothing to me...I had not already wished for him to do."

"What...what do you mean?" Sam asked, though with Crowley's words earlier, he was afraid he already knew.

"Last...last night...Dean and I...we...he _took_ me...here in this bed," Cas fought to explain, struggling for every word. Sam felt horror fill his gut as he watched his friend flounder.

"Oh, God, Cas. You mean...you mean he raped you? The demon _raped_ you?" Sam heard himself asking as he approached the bed, even though he felt the word burn in his throat, even though he didn't want to believe such an awful thing of his own brother. He didn't know that he wanted to live in a world where it was possible for Dean Winchester to do the unthinkable to Castiel.

Again, Cas shook his head, though he couldn't quite stop himself from reaching out to take Sam's hand. "No. It's not really possible...to rape the willing. I didn't stop him."

"That's not the same thing as consent, Cas. You don't have to say anything to spare his feelings. He's not in his right mind right now. It's _not him,_ " Sam tried to argue.

Even though he kept on squeezing the hand he held tightly, Cas continued to shake his head. "No, Sam. I wanted this."

"Jesus, Cas, I _know_ what he means to you. We all do, but...God dammit, it wasn't supposed to happen like this!" Sam growled, returning the pressure of Cas' fingers with his own firm grip, trying to let him know it wasn't him he was angry at.

"Do you need me to heal you?" Hannah asked him.

Cas shook his head slowly, that same strange smile making its way across his face. "Hannah...haven't you noticed it yet?"

Sam watched as Hannah surveyed her fellow angel, hands moving forward to take his free hand in hers. She looked into his eyes and Sam saw her breath catch as her own eyes widened.

"What? What is it?" Sam asked.

"My grace has been restored," Cas answered, not looking away from Hannah.

"How is it possible?" she asked him, her hands falling to the floor, almost as if she were bowing to him.

"It's not," he said simply. "If you keep looking, I believe you'll find something else that's impossible."

Once again, Hannah looked into him and once again her breath caught and her eyes widened, but her expression held less of awe and more of terror this time.

"Dear God," she whispered as she staggered to her feet, stumbling backward until she'd hit the wall. "Dear God, it can't be."

"What is it now?" Sam tried to ask, glancing back and forth between Cas and Hannah.

"I know what you're thinking, Hannah, but you're wrong."

"There's no way such a monster can exist. Not it _shouldn't_ exist. It _can't_ exist!" the terrified angel shouted at her friend, cowering as far from him as she possibly could.

"Please, Hannah, just let me explain," Cas said as he rose from the bed, finally letting go of Sam's hand. "It isn't what it looks like. You know it wouldn't have been able to happen if it was. This situation is different."

" _No!_ " Hannah shouted, drawing her angel blade and pointing it at Cas with shaking hands. "This is some dark power from Hell...a trick to distract us. Castiel...my friend, this abomination has infected your mind. I beg you...we must destroy it."

"What the hell is this?" Sam asked, quickly stepping between the two angels with hands raised. "Just what exactly is going on here? Someone wanna fill me in?"

"I know you for a just angel, Hannah. Believe me when I say that I have no wish to fight you...but you may also believe me when I swear that no angel or demon will bring harm to this child. I will _die_ first," the angel vowed, his voice dropping into an even lower growl than usual.

"No. No!" Hannah snapped, her eyes still wide with fear as she made her way to the door while trying to keep as far away from Cas as possible. She kept her blade trained on them the entire time. "I won't let this happen. I'll find some way to stop this, Castiel. I promise!" Then she was gone.

"Well," Cas started, his shoulders slumping dejectedly, "that could have gone better."

"Cas...what the hell just happened?" Sam tried to ask again. "Seriously need a clue here."

"I'm sorry, Sam, but we don't have time to waste. No doubt Hannah will call on Heaven for aid and they will doubtless answer with a situation this serious. We need to be gone from here. I'll explain on the way," the angel said, a different sort of resolve in his voice than the hunter was used to hearing from him.

"The way to _where?_ " Sam pressed as he followed his friend out of the room.

" _Anywhere!_ " Cas snapped. "Anywhere so long as it's away from here."

Ultimately deciding to trust the angel's urgency, Sam led the way out to his car, keeping an eye out for Hannah all the while. He didn't spot a single trace of her and he didn't speak again until he and Cas were well out on the highway.

"All right, Cas, I think I've been patient long enough. What's this all about? What's Hannah so afraid of? You said something...about a _child,_ " Sam pointed out, really uncertain as to what that could mean.

"Yes. You of all people certainly deserve an explanation. You see...last night...when Dean came into me...I don't truly understand how it happened; it shouldn't be possible...but Dean and I...we created a new flame of grace," Cas explained, clutching at his knees as he spoke.

"A child," Sam said softly, staring out at the empty road before him. His first thought was 'aren't you both men?', but of course that wasn't the case. Castiel was an angel, and considering his own experiences with angels, this was hardly even in the realm of the bizarre. "But...he's a demon. What's this baby going to be?"

"I don't know. Such a thing has never happened before. What Hannah said was true. This grace inside of me...by right, it _cannot_ exist. It's impossible for angels and demons to...to breed. We simply aren't compatible."

"Then how did this happen?" Sam pressed. He could hear that Cas was starting to drift off into his own thoughts and they couldn't have that just now. He needed him to focus.

"I have theories, of course...but nothing I can prove," he said, hands slowly drifting up to rest against his belly.

"I'm listening."

"I let him do what he did because...because of my feelings for him. Before it happened...he said he'd been too afraid in the past...to let himself have what he wanted. I believe...he may have felt as I did," the angel said. Sam could feel him starting to shake in the seat beside him.

"Oh, come on, Cas. Of _course_ he loved you. You don't need to dance around it. His loss for being so damn _stupid_ about the whole thing," Sam growled. Had he not been driving, he would certainly have taken time to shake some sense into the dense angel.

"Yes, o- of course," Cas said, hands shifting back to his knees to grip tightly at them...to stop himself from trembling. "I believe that...perhaps the cause of this...is that his feelings for me still exist...somewhere within the demon. That may have allowed his power to bond with my grace. This new flame...it bears the grace of an angel and the dark seeds of a demon."

"And because it can't exist, Hannah was afraid of it," Sam finished.

"Just so. She has every right to be. Anyone who hears of this will be afraid."

"Well, Cas...no offense, but how do you _know_ this isn't something to be afraid of? I mean...nobody's ever seen anything like this."

"I _don't_ know...not...not rationally, at least. But if my thinking is correct, I don't see how it can be. Whatever else this child may be, it is part of Dean. We are still part of each other. I've already failed him more times than I can count. I won't fail again. I won't let anything happen to our child," he insisted vehemently, actually drawing his knees up against his chest, as if to protect the fragile place where the new life rested.

"Cas, I get it," Sam started, reaching over a hand to rest it on his shoulder, "but we've also gotta-"

"No, Sam. No, you don't 'get it'," Cas snapped at him, recoiling from the touch as far as the car would allow. "It isn't just the demon seed that makes this grace different. I can feel this little one inside...and this presence feels no different to me than Dean's. This grace almost has more the feel of a human soul than an angel's grace. I don't understand it, but I _know_ this is Dean's child! I love them both! I understand what it looks like, but I know this child was conceived in love. I will not allow Heaven or Hell or anyone else to take _anything_ more away from me!" the angel near-screamed.

"Whoa! Cas! Calm down!" Sam pleaded with him, holding a hand up in supplication. "I'm not saying we need to do anything drastic. I just want us to be rational about all this. We've been in some pretty deep holes before, but this is completely new territory."

Cas remained pressed against the car door, but the tension in him did loosen visibly. It was replaced instead with an air of sorrow. "It's love, Sam. It isn't rational. You and Dean have been trying to explain that to me for years, but I didn't realize just how fiercely I could know it until this day."

Well, the angel was certainly right about that one. Sam had done things he wasn't proud of in his search for Dean and he was almost frightened to acknowledge that he didn't care. It was almost like being the same soulless wretch he'd been three years ago. Shaking off the bitter memory, Sam quickly focused his attention back on Castiel. "That I can sympathize with, but it doesn't make the situation any less sticky. I know we always say the three of us are enough, but...it isn't the three of us anymore. It's just you and me."

"Be that as it may, it's you and me fighting for Dean. We aren't going to fail. Besides, there are still technically three of us," Cas pointed out, a hand drifting to his stomach once more. Sam couldn't quite help his small bark of amused laughter at this.

"God, but we really are starting them young now. That kid doesn't even have a pulse yet. Are we gonna start fighting off angels with teddy bears? Gonna stick it to demons with holy pacifiers?"

"If we have to," Cas responded with a straight face, and for the life of him, Sam couldn't figure out if he was actually using sarcasm or not. A visual of _that_ battle, he did not need. Finding himself laughing and crying at the same time, Sam finally pulled off the highway. Cas looked up in confusion at this. "Where are we going?"

"We're gonna stop for gas and a bite. I need to make sure you stay well-fed, after all. If we head back from here, it shouldn't take more than two days to get back to the bunker. There's gotta be something we can learn about all this. Dean's just gonna have to wait a few days."

XxX

Crowley growled low in his throat, rolling his eyes as he pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning against. He glared at the door of the motel room next to him, from behind which were coming some very distinct thumping sounds.

"Are you quite finished in there, princeling?" the demon called out, rapping on the door a few times. There followed several more violent thumps and an ear-splitting scream before Dean appeared at the door, chest covered in blood and jeans only half on, his spent cock still exposed. He was holding the First Blade loosely over his shoulder, dripping with freshly spilled blood.

"Ah, commando. Sexy. I imagine it rather turns our friends on before you slice their throats."

"Makes things go quicker when I've just gotta slip down the pants a bit and not have to worry about the briefs," Dean explained, scratching his shoulder with the blade. "You really gotta keep interruptin' like this? I could have gotten another ten minutes outta that one."

"You do know I haven't been sending you those Abaddon groupies just so you can get off, yes? That mark of yours _needs_ murder."

"So? What's it to you if I have a little fun before the Mark gets its kicks?" Dean asked as he drew back into the room. Crowley groaned in frustration as he followed him.

"Nothing to me. But isn't this well and enough?" the King of Hell asked as he gestured to the mangled corpse that was still bound to the bed. "Wouldn't the whole bloody business be easier served by returning to Hell? Don't get me wrong, it's been great fun, but there's work to be done. Why the need to fuck everything that moves...and even...some things that don't?" he asked, wrinkling his nose in distaste at the thought of the last Abaddon loyalist he'd sent Dean's way.

"I dunno. I guess I can't stop thinkin' about Angelface. Everything I put my dick in just sorta turns into him...and then I put the Blade in 'em and I see him and somethin' inside just starts _screamin'_ and...I dunno. I guess I just keep doin' it 'cuz I'm not sure if the last time was real. Maybe I've just got a hard on for punishment," he said, driving the Blade into the corpse for good measure.

_More like punishing_ _ **yourself,**_ the demon monarch thought as he surveyed the fresh-faced demon with wary eyes. If even being reborn as a demon couldn't free Dean Winchester of this hatred of himself, he truly had no idea what would.

"And you don't think it might just be better to get it over with? Call the angel to you and put the Blade through his heart? Just have it over and done with? You _know_ he'd come to you if _you_ called," Crowley told him, though he very much didn't like the fact that he was encouraging a fellow demon to _pray_. The whole business was nauseating, really.

"What? You wanna _watch?_ " Dean asked with a lascivious smirk, raising the Blade to his lips and licking off the blood.

"Maybe," Crowley returned mildly, though he was really more interested in seeing what would happen should the pair come into contact again. Would Castiel reveal the existence of the abomination? What would Dean's reaction be if he did? Would he kill his would-be lover and their unborn child...or would he prove unable to follow through? Would he _want_ the abomination to live? There was no way to know. What Crowley wanted to see...was just how far over the Winchester Hell's control extended. He had already displayed an unnerving ability to pray and to call a falling angel to him. Just what _was_ the little squirrel now?

"Yeah, no. I don't think so," Dean suddenly snapped, and faster than even Crowley could track, he was standing before him, holding the First Blade to his throat.

"What do you think you're doing?" Crowley demanded, looking at his would-be minion with trepidation in his eyes. There really was no predicting this wild card of a Winchester.

"None of your business, dickbag. What I do with my little angel toy is nobody's business but my own. I don't think you _get_ to watch us. You don't get to tell me what to do. I didn't agree to this whole right hand man thing, y'know? I'm still weighin' my options. I've wasted so much damn time doin' everything for everyone else. Not anymore. Now I'm doin' whatever I want. If I decide that includes the angel, then all you get to do is stay behind and jack off. You don't get to watch me fuck him. Only _I_ decide when I'm done with Castiel."

"Going to kill me, Dean?" the demon king asked, still holding his gaze. "Are you forgetting who I am? Not for nothing did I make it to the top of the food chain. I'm the _fucking king._ You're just a baby running around making noise. Do I need to put you in your place, baby?" he suggested, though he was no longer certain just how true the previous statement was...and when he saw Dean's sneer widen, he knew the other demon could see that fear in his eyes.

"Thing is, Crowley, I don't think you _can_. Not now, anyway. It isn't just the Blade. I dunno how, but I can see I've gotten a lot stronger than you thought I would. I could put you down like a dog right now. I think I'll be callin' the shots from now on. Maybe what I want is for me and that pretty angel to rule in Hell together. Fuck knows he's taken enough shit from Heaven. Yeah, that's it. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm takin' over...and there ain't a damn thing you or your little punks can do about it," Dean declared, pulling the Blade back so quickly as to leave a tiny knick in the skin of Crowley's neck. Then he shoved him to the floor before walking away from him.

"If that's your intent, why are you running away?" Crowley challenged, knowing full well he was taking his life in his hands by doing so. "Why not just kill me now?"

Dean laughed at this, not looking back at him as he spoke. "Listen to me good, Crowley, I'm not doin' this 'cuz it's the _smart_ thing to do. Nothing rational about it. I'm doin' it 'cuz it's gonna be _fun._ Wouldn't be any fun if I just dropped you now. This way you've got time to be _scared_. You're not gonna see me comin' for you. I'll get to see you piss your pants like a scared little boy before I kill you. So watch your back, little king," he warned. Then he was gone.

" _Dean!_ " Crowley snarled in anger and fear, but the fucking little spitfire was long gone. The King of Hell couldn't help it. For several minutes, he just knelt there on the floor...shaking. Maybe Dean didn't know why he was becoming so strong, but _he_ certainly did. It was the child...the _abomination._ Its conception had somehow restored Castiel's grace and it was surely the reason Dean was developing power far beyond what even the Mark of Cain could grant. So long as the horrid little beast continued to exist, both Dean and Castiel would only continue to get stronger. Heaven? Hell? All of creation? They could have it. They could have it all. Together they could have whatever they wanted. The only question that remained was...would either of them become aware of it?

"Okay...not good," Crowley muttered, finally getting to his feet. This little urchin was officially not a good thing. Either he needed to be in control of it by the time it was born...or it would have to be destroyed.

XxX

In spite of how frightened she'd been upon running out of the motel, Hannah's first act had not been to hook into the angel radio. Somewhere in her terror, she'd realized that to broadcast this secret to the scores of angels who still lived would be to invite a holocaust down upon Castiel, no matter what he'd done for Heaven. Frightened angels would crawl from the woodwork and do anything in their power to prevent him from bearing this _creature._

No. She couldn't let that happen. If she wanted to save Castiel, she would have to seek the help of _one_ angel – one angel who knew more than any angel who had ever lived.

Making the long trek back to the gate over the course of several days, she reentered Heaven at night, telling no one of her intent when she entered the prison.

"Ah, Hannah," Metatron called loudly upon noticing her outside his cell. "Come to see me in my loneliness? How's our dear Castiel doing? Not well, I hope."

"No...not well. In fact, worse than anyone could possibly imagine," she said softly, feeling herself tremble at the memory of the horror she'd witnessed.

"Oh?" the former scribe wondered, raising an eyebrow. "Do tell. The grace is just about used up, I gather?"

"No. Castiel's grace has been restored," she answered, making a point of not looking at him.

"What? That...that's not possible," Metatron said, shaking his head.

"I wish it weren't...for his grace has been restored by a monster. If this is allowed to continue, Castiel will surely destroy us all."

Not looking at the imprisoned angel, Hannah didn't see it of course, but Metatron's look of confusion slowly shifted to an enticed smile as he listened to her speak.

"Tell me what's happened, Hannah," he said soothingly.

"Castiel has...he has done the unthinkable. He's been unpredictable in the past, but this is different."

"What's he done?"

"He...he has...coupled with a demon!" she shouted, as if she hadn't truly believed it until that moment. "And they...their power together...it has created an abomination – a creature that cannot possibly exist."

"Ah...Dean Winchester," he said knowingly. "The Mark did its work well, then."

"I'm certain he was taken against his will. Neither of them could have _meant_ for this to happen, but it still did. Something evil was conceived...and now Castiel will not permit it to be destroyed. He swears he will die first. Surely this creature is influencing him somehow!"

"And just what do you think _I_ can do about this?" Metatron asked casually, drifting away from the cell bars and moving to lean against a wall.

"If this abomination is born, it will mean the end of all of us. I can't imagine you want that. There must be something you know – _something_ in your store of knowledge. There _must_ be a way to stop this from happening!" she pressed, moving forward and gripping the cell bars in white fists.

"Interesting that you believe there's somehow a precedence for this, even though, supposedly, nothing like it has ever happened before," he said. He knew he had the angel hooked. Now it was just a matter of reeling her in.

"What do you mean 'supposedly'?"

"As a matter of fact, I _do_ know something...but I hope you don't believe you can get that something for nothing. What do you have to offer?"

"I'm not going to let you out, if that's what you mean," she said, taking a minuscule step back, but not pulling away entirely.

"No, no, no, of course not. Tell you what – I'll tell you what I know, then we'll decide if my price is worth the information you need to make it so. Sound fair?"

"What do you know, Metatron?" she asked, moving in close once again. She hardly noticed him moving closer to her.

"Hannah, have you ever heard...of the angel Israfil?"

The younger angel thought on it for several moments, but was ultimately forced to shake her head. "I don't know this angel."

_In Heaven a spirit doth dwell_

_Whose heart-strings are a lute;_

_None sing so wildly well_

_As the angel Israfil,_

_And the giddy stars (so legends tell),_

_Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell_

_Of her voice, all mute._

At first, it was strange to hear Metatron sing, but as Hannah listened to the words, she found herself drawn in by them...left with an aching longing deep within her being...a longing to know this sad, forgotten angel who sang so wildly well. "Who is she? Who is this Israfil?" she heard herself asking, almost without her own permission.

"Israfil...is God's one and only retcon."

"What does...that mean?"

"The Burning One. I've never been able to decide whose punishment was worse: Israfil's or Lucifer's. Lucifer was only banished...imprisoned. But Israfil was erased. She was written out of living memory, so that it appeared she'd never existed at all. Only God and I still remember her: our Israfil...the fifth archangel."

"There is no fifth archangel. That's impossible," Hannah tried to argue, shaking her head.

"How would you know? If all trace of her was erased, you certainly wouldn't remember whether she'd existed or not. That was her punishment: oblivion...to be completely forgotten by all while still existing in plain sight everyday."

"But...even if that's true...what was it she did that merited such a punishment?" Hannah pressed.

"Israfil fell in love with a human, just like our Castiel...and when that human was twisted into a demon, the archangel fell into a situation very much similar to his. An abomination was conceived, but its birth was prevented. If anyone can help you prevent his fate, it would be her."

"And if...Israfil really _was_ erased...where is she now? How can I find her?"

"As I said before, she exists in plain sight. God changed her form, locking her in the shape of fire. Essentially, she _is_ the essence of fire. She exists in every flame that ever has been or ever will be. All that's needed to bring her forth is the proper ritual," he explained.

"Hold on," Hannah said, suddenly uncertain, desperate as she was to save Castiel's life. "The situation didn't work out so well in Heaven the last time you performed a ritual. Why should I believe you now?"

"Don't be stupid, little Hannah. What reason do I have to lie to you about this? I haven't asked for my freedom in return, now have I?"

"No...but what is it you _do_ want in exchange for the ritual to call her?"

"All I ask in return is one simple favor. Bring her here before you take her to Castiel. It's been such a long time and I want to talk with her again."

"That's all you want?" Hannah asked, feeling for the first time that there might actually be hope for this hopeless situation.

"That's all I want."

"All right, then. Tell me how to bring forth Israfil."

"The incantation itself is easy enough. I'll grant you that knowledge once you've succeeded in your tasks. There are certain...ingredients you will need to perform this spell."

"What must I do?"

"There are seven things you will need in order to reverse God's decree. The first is the blessing of a demon lord."

"But that's impossible. Demons don't bless things," she insisted.

"Don't interrupt me, Hannah. You'll find many of these things near impossible to secure, but you're the one who has to discover the truth of each item, not me. If this ritual were easy, everyone would do it. The second item is a handful of fairy dust. The third is the heart of a desperate child. The fourth is the perfect height of faith, hatred, and love. The fifth item is the trust of one who is not yet a mother. The sixth is a ring of perfectly mirrored hunters' blood. The seventh and final item is the flesh of a mother whose circle is unbroken. Bring these things together and Israfil will be free."

"Metatron, that...none of that makes any _sense._ "

"As I said, it's for _you_ to figure out. If you can't, then you're not worthy to raise her. Castiel's fate is in your hands now, Hannah."

For a moment, the angel just stood before the cell, feeling utterly hopeless. There was no way to even know how long she would have to solve this impossible riddle. If she failed...if Castiel was allowed to give birth to this monster...

Ultimately, though, she nodded, steeling her resolve. She couldn't let this be Castiel's fate, not after everything he'd done. He _deserved_ to be saved.

"All right. I will do what needs to be done. I will return here when I have completed my tasks."

"That's my good girl. You go fight for creation!" Metatron called after her as she headed out of the prison. She didn't see it, but the former scribe was grinning from ear to ear. When he was alone, he laughed quietly into the darkness of the cell.

"And thus I clothe my naked villainy with old odd ends stol'n out of holy writ, and seem a saint, when most I play the devil."


	3. I Pray You'll Be My Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "Last...last night...Dean and I...we...he took me...here in this bed," Cas fought to explain, struggling for every word...
> 
> "Well, Cas...no offense, but how do you know this isn't something to be afraid of? I mean...nobody's ever seen anything like this."...
> 
> "I can feel this little one inside...and this presence feels no different to me than Dean's. I don't understand it, but I know this is Dean's child! I love them both! I understand what it looks like, but I know this child was conceived in love. I will not allow Heaven or Hell or anyone else to take anything more away from me!" the angel near-screamed...
> 
> "I think I'll be callin' the shots from now on. Maybe what I want is for me and that pretty angel to rule in Hell together. Fuck knows he's taken enough shit from Heaven. Yeah, that's it. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm takin' over...and there ain't a damn thing you or your little punks can do about it," Dean declared...
> 
> "There must be a way to stop this from happening!" Hannah pressed, moving forward and gripping the cell bars in white fists...
> 
> "Hannah, have you ever heard...of the angel Israfil?" Metatron asked...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I see a lot of you are eager to see Dean's reaction to this whole situation. I suppose I should be honest and say we're gonna have to be patient on that one, seeing as how it's kinda the only card the good guys have to play at the moment. In the meantime, though, there will be plenty of things happening to keep you entertained. Let's see what you think of this.

_At first, he isn't certain what he's hearing. The sound is unfamiliar, but as he slowly starts to come out of his daze, he realizes what it is: a baby crying._

_The child!_

_Climbing to his feet, Castiel hurries out of the library and toward the living quarters. The cradle is set up in Dean's old room and the baby girl is lying in it, crying her eyes out. The angel rushes to his daughter, lifting her into his arms._

" _Hush, little one. I'm here now. Everything's going to be all right," he soothes her, cradling her against his chest as he rocks her._

_As the baby slowly starts to calm down, Castiel can't quite help admiring the tiny set of wings at her back. He knows Sam can't see them, for they are part of her fledgling form, but they are beautiful to him nonetheless...and he likes to think that Dean would also find her beautiful, even if he can no longer perceive beauty in the same way. Their daughter is the first angel to have wings in almost two years. Truly beautiful._

_Castiel starts to hum tunelessly. He knows he's not much good with lullabies, but she seems to like the feel of the vibration in his chest as he rocks her._

" _I love you," he says as he tenderly kisses the top of her head. When she's finally asleep again, he sits down with her in the rocking chair, not quite ready to put her back to bed. He wants to hold his girl a little longer._

" _Little princess finally go back down?" he hears Sam's voice at the door. Without looking up, he nods, just watching her sleep._

" _Yes. I'm sorry if she disturbed you."_

" _Yeah, well...Dean never let me study in peace, so I guess it's only right his daughter doesn't either. She's adorable, but I'm almost afraid to see what she's gonna be like when she starts walking," he says as he walks into the room._

_Castiel can't help smiling at this. "She'll be just like her father...never in just one place." He isn't sure how one thought can be both joyous and painful...so painful. Sometimes he can almost swear he sees Dean looking out through her eyes._

" _Femme Dean. God help us all," the hunter says with a chuckle. When he reaches them he stretches down a hand to stroke the brown peach fuzz on her head._

_**Yes...God,** _ _the angel thinks with a spike of bitterness. It's been a long time since he's believed that God would help any of them, but sometimes he can almost swear he feels the divine presence when he's alone with his daughter...almost as if one of his brothers or sisters is watching over them, whispering in his ear._

_**Go, pretty child, and bear this flower unto thy little savior; and tell Her, by that bud now blown, She is the Rose of Sharon known.** _

" _She really is a princess," a new but familiar voice says...and Castiel looks up in horror to find that it's not Sam, but Dean._

" _Shh," the demon whispers, pressing a finger to his lips before deftly slipping the baby out of his arms. "Don't wanna wake the little tyke."_

" _Dean, please...don't harm her," he says, sitting up in the rocking chair, but not daring to stand, for fear of causing Dean to act rashly._

" _Oh, Angelface, why didn't you tell me? She's_ _ **my**_ _kid, too...my little princess," he says, tickling the little girl under the chin. Slowly, she blinks awake, gazing up at her father with black eyes. When his own eyes turn black, she coos for him, reaching a tiny hand up to touch his cheek."Aw, yeah. That's my sweet li'l angel. You know your daddy, don'tcha?"_

" _Dean, she's- she's only a child. What could she possibly be to you?"_

" _You mean aside from my own flesh and blood? That's rich. Think I wouldn't be a good daddy? Well...who are we kiddin'? All the Winchesters have daddy issues. Point is, Castiel, you can't go forgettin' that this kid ain't just an angel. She's part of_ _ **me,**_ _too. She's part angel...and part_ _ **demon,**_ _" he snarls as he cradles the baby girl against his chest. Almost immediately, her tiny wings begin to flutter against him, but they're different now: one is a feathery white angel wing – the other is a leathery black bat's wing. As Dean holds her tighter, she starts to cry._

_Unable to bear it any longer, the angel shoots to his feet, desperate to get his little girl away from her father. The moment he reaches for her, though, the two of them catch fire._

" _ **NO!**_ _" he cries out. He reaches, he struggles to move forward, to catch them in his arms, but no matter how hard he tries, he can never reach them._

" _Don't think you can keep her from me, angel. She's just as much mine as she is yours," he says before kissing the baby's head. He keeps his eyes locked on Castiel's as they burn up._

" _NOOO!_ " Cas woke screaming, desperate hands reaching out to grasp at nothing.

"Cas! What's wrong? What is it?!" Sam shouted as he appeared in his doorway. For a moment, the distraught angel had no idea what was happening.

"I- I saw...Dean...and the child...on fire," he struggled to explain, fighting against the tightening of his throat and the burning in his eyes.

"Oh...oh, Cas. It's okay. You were just having a nightmare," Sam explained as he came to sit beside him on his bed.

"I...shouldn't," the angel choked out. "Not now...I'm an angel again. I had dreams when I was human, but...nothing so awful...nothing like _that_."

"It's okay, man. It's a normal reaction to these things."

"I shouldn't still be _able_ to dream, though. When I...took Theo's grace...the dreams stopped."

"Is this the first one you've had since then?"

"No. I've been having them...ever since it happened," he explained, hand drifting to his stomach out of habit. "But they've only ever been...good dreams...dreams about the baby...about all of us being here together. This was the first...nightmare. It was...just... _horrifying,_ " he said, voice dropping to a whisper as he drew a knee up to his chest. Horrifying didn't even _begin_ to cover it. He wasn't even sure if there _was_ a word for it.

"It wasn't real, Cas. Whatever you saw, it was only in your mind," Sam tried to comfort him, even though he could see that nothing he was saying was having any effect on the angel.

"Why should that mean it wasn't real. That _could_ happen."

"Just...don't think about that. We've got to keep positive here."

"Sam...it's been three weeks. There's nothing for you to find in this archive because this has _never happened before_. We're really just going to have to make it up as we go along."

"Well...I did learn more about angel reproduction than I thought humans could possibly know," Sam said, trying to crack a smile.

"And we already know that a lot of it doesn't apply in this case. We're just going to have to write the book on this one ourselves," he said, trying to return Sam's small smile, but ending up with more of a wince.

Sam was about to say more when his phone suddenly started ringing. Wondering who would call at six in the morning, he slipped out the device, taking a moment to note that he didn't recognize the number before answering it.

"Hello?"

"Sam Winchester?" a woman's voice sounded at the other end of the line.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"My name's Elaine Serra. I don't know if you remember me."

"Of course I remember you. How's Merry?"

"Oh, she's fine. Wonderful, all things considered."

"What do you mean?"

"Sam, you wanna explain to me why your brother just tried to take my head off?"

Sam's heart just about stopped at this. "You've seen Dean?"

"Yes. Kinda hard to miss the axe murderer hiding in the back seat of your car...if you wanna call that weird bone an axe, I mean."

"Elaine, are either of you hurt?" he asked her.

"No," she replied, but then he heard a very similar voice in the background scoffing and calling out 'don't lie.' He could almost hear Elaine rolling her eyes. "All right, fine. A few cuts. Nothing we haven't dealt with before. But the question stands...why was Dean Winchester trying to kill me?"

"That's...a very long and involved story. I'll tell you when we've got the time. Where are you two? Is Dean still on your trail?"

"Probably. He said he'd be back. We're out in Colorado working a case up in the Keystone area. We've got a pretty bad dryad infestation up here."

"Anything we can bring along to help?"

"Chocolate," she said without hesitation. "How far out are you?"

"We can be there in less than twelve hours if you can hold out that long."

"Sure thing. It's not really the dryads I'm worried about. We've just about got those handled, but Dean...he was...I don't know. Something's wrong."

"You don't know the half of it. We'll talk when we get there. Just...be sure to work some devil's traps into whatever you've got going up there. You both still have your anti-possession tattoos, yeah?"

"Sure do. Any sense in asking what we're supposed to be on the lookout for?"

"Nope. We'll talk when we get there. Stay alive," he ordered before hanging up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Cas asked.

"Somebody spotted Dean. Up for a trip out to Colorado?"

XxX

Once Sam had looked up a few water binding spells and gathered up any needed supplies, along with the chocolate Elaine had requested, he and Cas were on the road by sun up.

"So who are they? Elaine and Merry?" Cas asked him about half an hour into the drive.

"They're twin sisters. People call them the hunter twins. Dean and I helped their family out with a demon situation about eight years ago," he said, looking pointedly at the road. The Serra twins were not a topic he particularly liked to discuss, but if Cas asked him, he certainly owed him an explanation.

"What happened...if I may ask?" the angel pressed, at least knowing enough to leave him the out.

"Elaine and Meredith Serra. Their parents couldn't get pregnant...so their mother made a deal with a demon."

"Oh...one soul in exchange for children?"

"No, actually. This one was a little different. The demon made the firstborn deal. Rae Serra would become pregnant with twins, but after fourteen years, she'd have to give one of them back...the firstborn...Elaine."

"So...the deal was not completed?"

"In a way, it was. Dean and I happened to be in town the week the girls were turning fourteen. Things were happening to them. Merry asked us to help...afraid she was going to lose her sister. At first, we thought they might be cursed, but when we started to dig deeper, the whole ugly business came to light. Rae begged us to save her daughter. We tried to save them...but Rae and Tony Serra were taken that night...in place of Elaine. I don't think she's ever forgiven herself for it. She still has a mark on her leg...from where the demon tried to drag her away."

"So the two of them became hunters."

"Yeah. As I understand it, they spent a pretty bad four years in foster care...separated from each other. The moment they were legal, they found each other and took up the hunter's life."

"And...why do you suppose Dean would go after them?"

"There I have no idea. I don't know if Dean's even _sane_ right now. Could be he's just attacking at random."

"Except that these two are people that you knew, so most probably not."

"Yeah, wishful thinking."

"Well...hopefully we can reach them before Dean does."

"Yeah," Sam said absently, even though he knew neither of them was very confident of that. The girls were tough, but they were young...like he and Dean had been back in the day. They were up against something they weren't equipped to handle.

_Damn it, Dean, you'd_ _**better** _ _not hurt those girls. You and me...we're like heroes to them. Even if they forgive you...you'll never forgive yourself._

XxX

It was night when Sam and Cas pulled up to the cabin Elaine had told them about. Keystone was one of the larger ski resorts in Colorado, but outside of the winter months it wasn't very crowded. As such, it had taken some months for the infestation of water sprites to be noticed. The twins had taken care of that problem, but now they were up against something much worse.

The lights were out, but Sam knew that didn't mean anything. Either the twins were still safe, or they weren't. There was only one way to find out.

"Elaine? Merry?" he called out as he and Cas approached the cabin, he with Ruby's knife and Cas with his angel blade. He couldn't see the door open in the dark, but he could definitely hear the creak of it.

"Sam? Is that you?" a voice called out.

"Yeah. It's me and Castiel. You called me last night to tell me that Dean attacked you," he said, letting her know he was definitely the same person she'd spoken with on the phone.

"Thank God," the young woman said in relief, opening the door to reveal herself with a rifle and her sister with a lantern.

"So...which is which?" Cas asked quietly. The girls were perfectly identical, right down to the very last curl of long red hair.

"We'll know in three...two...one..." Sam counted under his breath.

"Sam!" the sister with the lantern called out eagerly, rushing to them and throwing her arms around Sam. "It's so good to see you!"

"Good to see you, too, Merry," he said, glancing at Cas over the young woman's head as he hugged her back. Merry was the more outgoing of the twins. Elaine never would have rushed out to greet them like that. She was still standing in the doorway, rifle trained on the darkness behind them.

"And this must be Castiel," the younger twin said as she moved over to hug the angel. Cas faintly hugged her back, but looked at Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"What can I say? She's affectionate. Y'know, Merry, we'd probably better continue this conversation inside."

"Yeah, sure. Come on," she said, spinning on her heels to lead them into the cabin.

"Devil's traps at the front and back doors and at the four windows," Elaine counted off as she circled the main area of the cabin. "Now...before we proceed any further...did you bring the chocolate?" she asked, whipping around to stare Sam down.

"All yours," Sam said, holding out one of the bags he was carrying. Elaine snatched it and triumphantly pulled out a Hershey bar. The wrapping was barely gone before she had nearly half the bar in her mouth.

"Sorry," she apologized through a mouthful of chocolate, the rifle still slung over her shoulder. "Your brother stole the rest of my stash. I was having a bit of a chocolate withdrawal."

"It's fine. Dean should know better than to mess with a woman's stash."

"Okay," she said, wolfing down the rest of the bar even faster than Sam had ever seen Cas put away a cheeseburger. "What are we dealing with? Possession? Shifter? Is it-"

"No," Cas interrupted her quietly, though his voice somehow sounded louder than all other sound in the room. "Dean...has become a demon."

" _What?_ " Merry was the one to finally ask after several moments of shocked silence. "How...how could that happen?"

"Something called the Mark of Cain," Sam took up the explanation. "He let it be transferred to him so he could defeat Abaddon, but...it...the Mark inspires bloodlust. He was becoming a killer. When he was killed in a fight with Metatron...the Mark wouldn't let him go. He was resurrected as a demon."

"Oh, God," Elaine muttered, rubbing at her forehead in frustration. "Something like that...I can't even _imagine_...Sam...I'm so sorry. Dean is...was...I-"

"It's all right, Elaine. We haven't given up on him just yet."

"But...if he's a _demon-_ " Merry started to argue.

"There might be a way of curing demons. We don't know if it'll work. We just need to capture him first."

"What can we do to help?" Elaine asked, finally shrugging off her shock.

"Well...right now, all we can do is hope he makes good on the threat to come back. Any ideas on why he might be after you?" Sam asked, setting down his bags and moving around the room to check the traps they'd set.

"No. We hadn't heard from him in a few years. We were coming back to the car after sealing one of the water nexae. I was putting my seatbelt on and suddenly there's a blade across my neck and he's whispering in my ear."

"What did he say to you?" Sam asked.

"He said...'Hey there, devil girl. Miss me?' I didn't get what was happening at first. I couldn't see his face. Merry was the one to notice the eyes," she said, looking to her sister as she shook herself, as if shaking off the memory.

"I burned him with holy fire...but he promised he'd be back before skipping out," the younger twin said as she went to her sister, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Could it be...because of my old mark...that he's coming after us?" Elaine asked.

"Might be a start, but it's definitely not the whole story, love," a new voice suddenly entered the room. Every eyeball in the room snapped in its direction to see Crowley standing in their midst.

Immediately, they were all on alert, pointing various weapons at him. Crowley just laughed, keeping his eyes fixed on Elaine as he moved toward her. "I like this one...little girl with a big gun. Can you even fire that thing, lovely Elaine?"

"Keep walkin' and you'll find out," she challenged, aiming the rifle right between his eyes. Again, the King of Hell just laughed.

"Charming, charming, missy hunter, but I didn't come here tonight to make a mess."

"What are you doing here, Crowley? Where's Dean?" Sam demanded.

"Honestly? No idea. Your brother's sort of gone AWOL. Figures, doesn't it. Not two months after getting rid of Abaddon, I've got another pretender to the throne on my hands."

"Dean...wants to take over Hell?" Cas asked, a look of pain in his eyes.

"That's right. Bastard buggered off after giving me a giant 'fuck you.' Ironic thing is, if I'm understanding his thinking correctly...he's doing it all for _you_...the mother of his child."

"Wait. What?" Merry asked, gaze shifting between Cas and Crowley. "What was that again?"

"Oh, sorry. Was that a secret?" he asked, looking around at all of them with a knowing grin on his face.

"You didn't tell _him_...did you?" Cas asked, glaring at the demon.

"No. It's definitely in everyone's best interest if Squirrel remains ignorant of that fact for the moment. What I _really_ came for is to get the last two Powerpuff Girls off their lazy arses and bloody do something about this image problem I'm having."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"Well, Moose, it's like this. Dean's been going 'round the country trying to make deals with hunters. Only trouble is, none of them will deal, so he's just killing them."

" _Why?_ " Cas asked, feeling something awful clawing at his heart.

"My guess? He's trying to rebuild the Knights of Hell, only he'd prefer to have people he knows are on his side, so he aims to make his own demons. That was probably his intent in trying to take you, devil girl...to make a deal with you," he said to Elaine. "But if anybody's going to make a deal with _you_ , lovely Elaine, it's going to be _me_ ," he said, moving toward her until his face was less than an inch from the barrel of the gun.

"Yeah? Why's that?" she asked, the strain of keeping herself from shaking visible on her face.

"Oh, the stories I could tell you and your sister. Though...I don't suppose that's what we're here to talk about. Dean Winchester's the topic of conversation tonight. Any actual plans for catching our little wayward demon aside from these painfully obvious devil traps?"

"Yeah. How 'bout a nice juicy slab of hunter meat," Dean suggested as he walked through the front door. The three hunters and the angel instantly switched targets from Crowley to Dean.

"And the sodding idiot actually walks right into the middle of the painfully obvious devil trap," Crowley said as he rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm not sure whether to be fearful or offended that they find you a greater threat than me."

"It's 'cuz they know the boss man when they see him."

"Dean?" Sam started quietly. The demon took several moments to actually acknowledge him.

"Oh, Sammy, I didn't see you over there, little bro. How's it hangin'?"

"Dean...what do you want with Elaine? Why are you trying to hurt her?" the younger Winchester asked, struggling to maintain his composure as he kept Ruby's knife trained on him.

"It's not gonna hurt anymore than she wants it to. That depends on her," he said, shifting his gaze to the redheaded hunter as he paced back and forth within the confines of the small circle. "It's about time she stopped resisting being dragged to Hell."

"Hey, no. Elaine Serra is _mine_ ," Crowley insisted. "There's no way I put in all the work and you just show up at the last minute and take her for yourself. Besides, I'm not seeing what you think you can do from in there."

Dean shook his head as he drew the First Blade. "Oh, Crowley, I thought you knew better by now than to underestimate me. Wanna see my new trick?" he asked with a grin. Then he vanished, right along with Elaine and Merry.

"What- just happened?" Sam demanded in shock. "The trap was good. Nothing damaged it. He shouldn't have been able to get out. What the _hell happened?_ "

"You're looking at me?" Crowley snapped. "I don't want him to get out anymore than you do. I couldn't name _half_ the shit this punk could pull now."

"Sam...I don't think he _did_ get out," Cas said quietly as he sensed out the differing energies in the cabin, following them along their fault lines to their terminations.

"Where is he then?"

"He's still in the trap. He's just tapped into a pocket dimension...and taken the twins with him," Cas explained.

"He can _do_ that?" Sam asked, gaze shifting between Cas and Crowley. "Since when can demons do that?"

"You don't know the half of it," Crowley said with a groan.

"Well...how the fuck do we bust this pocket dimension? Who knows what he could be doing to them," Sam said, fearing for the girls' safety. If Dean had already killed other hunters, nothing was holding him back now.

A sly grin slid across Crowley's face at this. "Well...maybe our little angel can produce us a miracle."

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked, eyeing the demon king distrustfully out of the corner of his eye.

"Your little monster, Castiel. That thing restored your grace. What do you think it's doing for its other father?"

"Cas?" Sam asked, glancing toward him with uncertainty in his eyes.

"I...I don't know," the angel said, looking down at himself with an unidentifiable feeling in his chest. "Maybe-"

"Crowley!" yet another voice cried out as its owner entered the cabin, angel blade drawn.

Hannah.

"Jesus Christ!" the King of Hell snarled. "If Keystone, Colorado ain't the fucking place to be tonight. What is it now?!"

"I need that gun of yours, demon," Hannah declared. "Hand it over and I won't have to use this."

The demon, the angel, and the human all offered her confused looks at this.

"The bloody hell do you want the gun for?" Crowley asked, still not taking her seriously. "Didn't make you for the heat type, darling."

For a moment, Hannah's worried gaze shifted between Crowley and Cas, but then she shook her head, refocusing herself on Crowley. "That's none of your affair. What I do is for the good of everyone."

"Hannah...what are you doing?" Cas asked her. The wild look she'd had about her during their last encounter hadn't dissipated any. She was an angel on the edge and he feared what she might be capable of doing.

"Saving your life, Castiel. Don't interfere."

"Oh, I might just give you the gun...but only if you tell us what it is you're so anxious to accomplish here," Crowley said, drawing the gun from its holster. "So angel...what's it going to be?"

XxX

When Elaine finally managed to shake herself awake, she found herself tied to a chair in the middle of the cabin, completely alone.

"Hey!" she shouted into the darkness, struggling in vain to free herself. "What is this? Where the hell is everybody?"

"Nowhere they don't need to be," Dean explained as he appeared to her out of the darkness. "Same with the two of us."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" she snapped at him. "Where's my sister? What did you do with her?!"

"She'll be here when she needs to be here," he said as he came to kneel before her. "That depends on you."

"You said that before. What does that mean?" she asked.

"I guess that little bitch king of Hell told you all I've been goin' around tryin' to collect hunters. Don't suppose he got around to mentionin' _why_ I'm doin' it."

"No. I'm not sure he knows. Why _are_ you doing this? The Dean Winchester I knew wouldn't just go around hurting fellow hunters for no reason."

"Yeah, well, the Dean Winchester you knew is dead. Living killed him...just like it kills every other sucker on this planet," he said, taking out his strange blade again and laying it against her inner thigh. "Plus, it's not 'no reason'."

"Okay...what is the reason?" she asked.

"The reason is I'm sick of all this bullshit. Heaven, Hell, humanity, any other disgusting thing in between...all those bastards can do is use me, and my whole damn life I thought I owed 'em somethin'. Well...I decided we're not gonna do this anymore. This system doesn't work. Heaven keeps screwin' us over, so we'll see what we can do with Hell. I'm kickin' Crowley out on his ass. If that works out...we'll see what we can do with Heaven and Earth," he explained, cutting through the fabric of her jeans, pressing against the skin with the blade.

"But...Dean...doing that won't make anything better. Look at yourself! You've already turned into something you're not."

"And it was worth it!" he hissed at her, cutting the skin and sneering when she cried out in pain. "Got rid of my only real rival for the Pit, and it gave Angelface time to put Megatron away. Nobody's gonna stop me and nobody's gonna hurt Sammy or Castiel again without my say so. I'm not seein' the downside here, Elaine."

" _They'll_ stop you. Sam and Castiel will. I _know_ Sam and he's not going to let this happen," she snarled at him.

"Those two losers? Nah. They're nothin' without me. They both fell apart when I died. They can't get by without me."

"So why don't you _kill them?_ " she suggested callously, knowing the risk she was taking, but needing to see what his reaction would be. "If you're in it for yourself now, aren't they going to hold you back?"

Dean laughed at this. "Why don't I kill 'em? Well...the answer to that one's pretty simple," he said just before slashing the blade across her stomach. Elaine shrieked in pain as her blood splashed onto Dean's chest.

"I don't want to. That's the answer to your question, so don't bother askin' again. That's all you need to know."

"Fuck you, Dean Winchester," she groaned through her labored breathing. "I really...like this shirt."

"And you don't have to lose it if you deal with me _,"_ he said, trailing his fingers through the blood flowing from her stomach, tracing lines down to the waistline of her jeans. He ran a finger along the line several times before yanking down the zipper. "Feelin' ready to talk?"

"Demon _pig!_ " she growled before spitting in his face. "And people wonder why I don't sleep with men."

"You don't wanna go down that road with me, sweetheart," he said as he wiped the spit from his face. "So if you don't feel up to talkin', you can just listen. I think your sister'd appreciate it," he said, and the very next moment, Merry was sitting in a chair across from them, bound and unconscious.

" _Merry!_ " she shouted. No response. "Damn it. What did you do to her?"

"Nothin', but she's not gonna wake up 'til we need her to. So you gonna listen?"

Elaine's only response was to glare silently at the demon.

"Good. 'Cuz all I gotta say is...how do you _know_ takin' over won't make things better? You and Merry have been screwed over pretty bad by the will of Heaven. Lettin' the two of you get brought into the world on a demon's deal just for you to be handed over like you were nothin'. I know how that eats at you, Elaine...always left feelin' like you're somehow _less_ than your sister...like you gotta die so she can live. All I'm sayin' is...why not _change_ that world that fucked you over so bad, huh? If anybody should get what I'm tryin' to do here, it's you. Where's it written that we gotta lay down and die for this perfect world order? Change this world with me, Elaine. Make a deal with me and I can give you the power of a Knight of Hell. You can have this power, too. We can gather others like us and together we can turn this God damn shit hole around. What do you say, Serra?"

For several moments, all Elaine could manage was to stare at Dean in silence. This was neither the time nor the place to admit it to him, but what he'd said had gotten to her...even if it was only in the tiniest of ways. Now wasn't the time to admit to her own failings, though. Now was the time when she had to be strong.

"So...let me see if I'm understanding you. You want me to become the thing that killed my parents? The thing I've sworn my life to destroy? That marked me for life? Am I hearing you right?"

"My God, you sound just like me."

"Gonna have to take a pass on that one, Dean. I am not going to make a deal with you and I am not going to let you turn me into a demon. You can kill me if you want, but you're not getting anything out of me."

The demon shook his head slowly as he got to his feet. "That's really too bad. I always thought Merry had a real pretty face."

"What are you going to do?" Elaine asked as he moved away from her...toward her sister.

"Heh, funny. Seems like everybody's been askin' me that these last few weeks. The fuck do you _think_ I'm gonna do?" he challenged as he used his blade to slice open Merry's shirt and bra. Then he set the blade in her lap and moved around behind her so Elaine could see exactly what he was doing.

The demon moved his hands down the front of her body, taking the time to fondle her breasts. Then those hands moved lower, ripping open the zipper on Merry's pants, just as he'd done with her.

"Stop it," Elaine snarled quietly.

"Y'know, your sister did always think I was hot. Guess sweet little Merry wouldn't mind this too much," Dean said as he pressed his lips to Merry's neck, ravishing it as he slipped his hands into her pants. All the while, the younger twin remained completely out of it.

"I said _stop it!_ " Elaine screamed at him. "Dean, I swear, if you hurt my sister, Sam's not gonna get a crack at you, 'cuz I'll kill you myself! Do you hear me, Winchester?! _I'll kill you!_ "

Dean didn't say anything. He just leered at her as Merry slowly blinked awake...and as the horrified realization began to dawn in her twin's eyes, Elaine was afraid she might have already lost. She didn't know how long she could bear to see her sister suffering like this.

"Elaine... _help me._ "


	4. Blood of the Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "They're twin sisters. People call them the hunter twins...Their parents couldn't get pregnant...so their mother made a deal with a demon."...
> 
> "I need that gun of yours, demon," Hannah declared....
> 
> "Oh, I might just give you the gun...but only if you tell us what it is you're so anxious to accomplish here," Crowley said, drawing the gun from its holster. "So angel...what's it going to be?"...
> 
> "You and Merry have been screwed over pretty bad by the will of Heaven. Lettin' the two of you get brought into the world on a demon's deal just for you to be handed over like you were nothin'. I know how that eats at you, Elaine...always left feelin' like you're somehow less than your sister...like you gotta die so she can live. All I'm sayin' is...why not change that world that fucked you over so bad, huh? If anybody should get what I'm tryin' to do here, it's you. Where's it written that we gotta lay down and die for this perfect world order? Make a deal with me and I can give you the power of a Knight of Hell. What do you say, Serra?"...
> 
> "Dean, if you hurt my sister, Sam's not gonna get a crack at you! Do you hear me, Winchester?! I'll kill you!"...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving week to all! Seeing as how it's a holiday week, I think I will post two chapters this week, one now and one tomorrow night. I've actually got several chapters already written, but the story isn't finished just yet, so right now my plan is to post at least one chapter a week. Once I get it done, I'll start posting a bit more frequently. So without further ado, I give you...

"My business is my own, Crowley," Hannah stated, keeping her angel blade firmly trained on the King of Hell. "I'm not going to ask again."

"No, Hannah, if you claim you're trying to save my life, that makes it my business," Cas interrupted her, moving a little closer. "Just what do you think you're trying to do?"

"Castiel, please-"

"No!" he snapped at her, moving to stand between her and Crowley. "I won't let you hurt others for my sake...even if they _are_ demons," he said, briefly glancing over his shoulder to see Crowley roll his eyes. "What is it you think you can do to save me? Where did you get this information?"

"There's someone who can help you. Metatron told me of an angel-"

"Hannah, could you possibly be more foolish?" Cas demanded. He would have moved forward to grab her shoulders were it not for the angel blade. "How can you believe a word out of his mouth?"

"I have to _try_ , Castiel."

"Who is this angel anyway?" Crowley asked, leaning to the side to look past Cas. "What sort of angel could possibly handle a situation like this?"

"Metatron says she is called...Israfil."

"Israfil? I don't know this angel," Cas said quietly. Granted, he wasn't so arrogant as to think he knew _every_ angel, but that name just didn't ring any bells for him.

"The Burning One," Crowley supplied. "Very auspicious name for an angel. So who is she?"

"The fifth archangel. She was punished long ago by being erased from living memory. No one knows of her because it's as if she never existed. She is imprisoned in flame, but there is a ritual that can be used to call her back into existence."

"What ritual?" Cas demanded. "Hannah, for all you know, this could be a spell to break Metatron out of prison. What do you think happened to _me_ last time I trusted to one of his spells. This will only end in pain for you. _What ritual?_ "

"No," she hissed, though her vessel's hands were beginning to shake. "I've said too much already. I am prepared to accept harm to myself for your sake. I will tell you nothing."

"Then you leave me no choice, Hannah," Cas said. Faster than any of them could track, he'd reached forward and seized the side of her head. Without even trying, he was able to break into her thoughts.

" _There_ _ **must**_ _be a way to stop this from happening!"_

" _Interesting that you believe there's somehow a precedence for this, even though, supposedly, nothing like it has ever happened before."_

_**In Heaven a spirit doth dwell** _

_**Whose heart-strings are a lute...** _

" _The Burning One..."_

" _That was her punishment: oblivion..."_

" _Israfil fell in love with a human, just like our Castiel...an abomination was conceived..."_

" _She exists in every flame that ever has been or ever will be..."_

" _ **The Burning One...**_ _"_

_**None sing so wildly well** _

_**As the angel Israfil...** _

" _In order to reverse God's decree...the blessing of a demon lord...a handful of fairy dust...the heart of a desperate child...the perfect height of faith, hatred, and love...the trust of one who is not yet a mother...a ring of perfectly mirrored hunters' blood...the flesh of a mother whose circle is unbroken..."_

"NO! _Stop it!_ " Cas suddenly heard Hannah screaming. With a cry of pain of his own, he pulled back from her, drawing up his angel blade to meet the blow he'd anticipated in her mind. The blade was not aimed at his head or his heart, but his stomach...at the baby. As Castiel gazed at her across the two crossed blades, he could feel his being thrumming with holy power.

"It will pain me very much to harm you, Hannah, but as I have said, I will protect my child... _no matter what it takes!_ " he roared at her, his eyes glowing blue with holy light.

Hannah tried once more to strike, but Castiel didn't even need to block her this time. The sacred aura had surrounded the angel with an energy field which stopped her blade a full foot away from him, easily shattering it. The holy light was already bright enough to illuminate the entire cabin and it seemed it would only get stronger. Castiel was fairly sparking with power.

"Moose?" Crowley called nervously to Sam as he watched the unnerving display of power. "This would be a very good place not to be right now."

" _Cas! NO!_ " Sam shouted, desperately trying to get through to the angel before he could unleash the devastating amount of power. At this rate, he'd easily end up taking out half the Rocky Mountains.

" _HANNAH!_ " Castiel screamed. He couldn't contain this power for much longer.

"Hannah, get out of here now! _Go!_ " Sam shouted at her, but she couldn't. She was incapable of tearing herself away. All she could do was gaze on the conflagration in awe and horror.

XxX

Elaine's throat was raw from screaming. She was screaming enough for both her and Merry, who had stopped crying out what felt like hours ago. After Dean had had his fill of molesting the younger twin, he had moved on to cutting her and breaking her bones. She hadn't spoken or made any sound in so long and she lay so still in the chair, held up only by the ropes that bound her. Elaine might have been afraid she was dead already were it not for the slight rise and fall of her chest. Merry had stopped resisting and Elaine wasn't certain how much longer the demon could keep himself amused with her.

"You know what?" Dean started as he carved a new line across Merry's breasts. "This is gettin' kinda old. I think I might have to start pullin' in the more permanent shit."

"What you've done to her already isn't permanent enough?!" Elaine snarled, still struggling against her bindings. She'd scraped her skin raw trying to get free, but she hardly even felt it. The only thing that mattered to her was saving her sister.

"No. She'll be hurtin' for a good while, but she can still walk away. I'm gonna have to do somethin' about that," he said as he moved behind Merry. Elaine couldn't see what he was doing, but she was all the more frightened for this.

Dean sneered when he lifted up the back of the girl's torn shirt, running a hand over the tattoo at the base of her spine.

"Oh, Merry...an anti-possession tramp stamp? That's hot," he whispered to her right before thrusting the First Blade straight through it.

Merry couldn't help but scream as the base of her spinal column was obliterated. She jerked violently and then fell still, her breathing shallow and shaky.

"No! Stop! _No more!_ " Elaine finally cried out. "I'll deal. I'll make a deal. I'll do whatever you want, just stop hurting her!"

"Ah, finally gettin' somewhere," Dean said as he moved away from Merry.

"No... _don't!_ " Merry called out faintly. "Doing this won't make _anything_ better...Elaine..."

"But I can't let you die," Elaine whispered as tears poured down her face. "You wouldn't let me go eight years ago...I can't quit on you now."

"Elaine...no..."

"What do I have to do?" Elaine asked, shutting out her twin's desperate cries.

"It's easy enough. You just ask me to save your sister...and in return, you become one of mine...a Knight of Hell...a demon. Are you ready for that?"

Elaine nodded slowly as she met his gaze. "Do it."

"Do what, Elaine?" he asked as he took her chin in his hand, forcing her head back.

"Save my sister's life...and I'm yours."

"We have a deal, then," Dean said, leaning down to kiss her...but just before he could, he flinched, sensing the changing energy in the space. Growling, he pulled back from Elaine, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Unfortunately, it looks like we're gonna have to pick this back up in a minute or two. The spot we're standing in's about to be blown sky high," he explained before vanishing.

XxX

Sam Winchester was very much aware that most people had only a handful of experiences with the divine in their lives, if even that. The jury was still out on whether he was fortunate or unfortunate to have a great deal more than that handful of experiences. He'd been face to face with it all his life, really, and he'd been face to face with the kind of power Castiel could wield many times before tonight, but it hadn't been until this night that he'd truly understood the beauty and terror contained in holy light.

Castiel had become a blazing star, but as divine as that light was, there was also something different about it...something dark and burning. Sam knew he'd more than likely burn up if he didn't look away soon, and even then...well, he also knew he couldn't allow this power to be set free. More than the damage it would do, Cas would hate himself if he killed Hannah. So, adding to the list of completely stupid and life-threatening things attempted by Sam Winchester, the hunter stepped forward and laid a hand on the angel's shoulder. He cried out in pain as he felt the holy fire sear his flesh to the bone, but he didn't let go. He heard Crowley shouting somewhere behind him, but he paid him no mind.

"Cas...come on!" he tried to call out to him. "You can't do this! You've gotta stop! _Wake up!_ "

Sam wasn't sure how much longer he would have lasted at that rate. Before he could really take time to assess his situation, though, the darkness radiating from the heart of Cas' light suddenly magnified, washing over him in a thick, cloying wave. The darkness wasn't just coming from Cas, though. The new presence was right there with them, visible only as a shadow in the blinding light.

"Hey, Angelface! Wanna tone it down a little? Some of us are tryin' to work here!"

In the moments before he lost consciousness, Sam squinted painfully through the blaze of light...and for an instant, he could see Dean's true face, rotting and enmeshed with dark power...but then everything was gone. When he finally woke up again, he found Crowley leaning over him.

"Oh, good, you're not dead. For a minute I thought the pair of them really had it in for you."

"Cas...Cas...what happened? Where's Cas?" he pressed as he struggled to sit up. Crowley gently pushed him back down, though.

"No, no, no, Moosey. Don't push it. Your soul's fragile right now. Any longer standing between the two of them and you'd have been ripped in half."

"I...I thought I saw Dean," Sam groaned, only just then beginning to feel the pain Crowley was talking about.

"You did. That was him. With the two of them together, we just about had ourselves a new Big Bang. They're gone now."

"What about Hannah?" he asked, closing his eyes against the sudden spinning of the world.

"Also gone...and with one less gun than she'd been expecting, I might add," he said.

"Where...where are they?"

"Here...but not here. Mummy and Daddy are having a chat. The kiddies don't get to listen."

"Is there any way to-"

Before Sam could finish the question, he turned his head to the side and promptly threw up. Even though he couldn't see what was happening, he couldn't quite help the grin when he heard the King of Hell cry out in disgust.

"And adding to the great big book of Winchester firsts, having a holy fire hungover hunter lose his lunch all over your favorite boots."

XxX

Castiel hadn't been fully aware of what was happening until he'd suddenly felt Dean's presence beside him. He felt the burn of the demon's hand on his shoulder...felt the massive amount of power he'd raised start to flow toward him...to equalize between them.

"Dean?" he whispered, almost frightened to look back at him.

"Hey, there, pretty angel. Wanna share some of that juice with me?"

Castiel felt his breath catch in his throat at the intimate press of their two auras...but then he suddenly saw Hannah cowering before him...felt Sam's soul flaying at his back...and he understood what was about to happen.

"Oh, God."

With that, Dean pulled him away. The angelic fire dissipated into the ether as they shifted locations, leaving Cas to collapse to his knees in the seemingly empty cabin, breathing heavily.

"Damn, Angelface, that hit was almost better than the Blade. Maybe we should fuck more often if that's the result," Dean said as he moved around in front of him.

"Sam?" Cas demanded as he struggled to his feet. "What happened to Sam? Is he all right?"

"Stop whining; he'll live. You and me just roughed him up a bit. The bitch king's babysittin' him 'til we're finished talkin'."

"Where are the twins? What did you do with them?" Cas asked.

"Heh, watch this. You're gonna love this," Dean said as he waved a hand. Then, with a crack and a hiss, the two girls appeared, bound to chairs and bloody.

"Dean!" Cas cried out in shock as he moved toward Elaine. "Dean, what have you done?" he demanded as he knelt to examine the slash wound on the girl's stomach.

"N-no," Elaine murmured, slowly shaking her head. "'m fine. Help Merry."

Cas stood, slowly turning to look at the younger twin, tied to the chair just behind Dean. Certainly she was worse off, bloody and badly beaten. If Dean didn't allow him to heal her, she might not last much longer.

"Why are you doing this, Dean?" he asked him as he moved around Merry, shuddering at the sight of the injury to her spine. Unable to help himself, he reached forward to try and heal her.

"Don't even think about it," Dean snapped at him. "You try to heal her, I'll just kill her."

" _No!_ " Elaine shouted, once again struggling against the ropes. "We have a _deal,_ dammit!"

"And that deal can easily be changed to raisin' Merry from the dead instead of just healin' her. So keep quiet and let the grown ups talk, baby Serra," Dean growled over his shoulder, keeping his attention focused on Cas.

"Dean... _why?_ " Cas tried again, reaching for Merry's hand out of Dean's sight, shocked but relieved when he felt the faintly returned pressure of her fingers. "Why would you do this?"

"Why, Castiel? For _you_."

For a moment, Cas couldn't breathe. All he could manage to do was stare at Dean in shock. This was different from hearing Crowley suggest that Dean was going around murdering hunters in his name. This was actually hearing it from his own mouth...hearing that he was doing these awful things for _him._

"What...what are you talking about?" he asked, slowly moving to stand in front of Merry.

"I'm talkin' about Team Free Will finally turnin' shit around. I know you're not gonna stand there and tell me you're not damn sick of waitin' for the next disaster to fall from Heaven or spring up out of Hell. Isn't it about time we _did_ somethin' about it? Seriously, how much shit did we get handed by these bitches?" the demon pointed out as he moved closer to the angel. Cas was at once repelled and drawn by his closeness, _wanting_ to be closer, but _knowing_ how dangerous it was.

"Maybe...maybe so," he admitted. He knew he had thought similarly once before...when he'd tried to become God and usurp the will of Heaven because he was tired of his brothers always hurting the man he loved. "But Dean...this _isn't_ the way. Believe me, I know. I tried to take over once before. I nearly wound up getting us all killed. It will go no differently if you do this. Please, stop now. Come back. You don't have to do this!" Cas pleaded with him, reaching out to grab his wrist. Dean just sneered at him a moment, drawing him closer.

"No, I really think I do. Things'll be different. We're not gonna go crazy this time. We'll start with Hell and...see how it goes."

"We?"

"Yeah," Dean said, as if that fact should have been obvious. "Now that I've had a fucking taste, I'm not gonna let you go so easy. We're gonna rule in Hell together. We'll make things the way we want 'em to be. No more of this will of Heaven bullshit."

"Dean, we can't-"

"What? You don't wanna be with me, Angelface? Can't stand to look at me anymore?" They were mere inches apart now, Dean's breath hot against his lips. Cas could feel himself start to tremble as Dean pulled him into his arms.

"No," Cas whispered, turning away as Dean leaned down to kiss his neck. "It isn't that. I _do_ want to be with you. That's all I want, but you're not _you_ right now. What can I say to make you _listen?_ " he asked, crying out softly at the end when the demon bit into the tender flesh of his throat.

"Nothin'," he said as he backed away, a few drops of blood on his lips. "You've been doin' the talkin' for a good while now, so maybe _you_ should listen. I'm doin' this _my way_ now. Stay out of it and you won't get hurt. I'll bring you Hell on a fuckin' silver platter, Castiel. Just don't try to stop me."

"I _must_ , Dean. Not by the will of Heaven, but by my own. I _will not_ allow this to happen. I _will_ raise you again...and if I must give all that I am in order to do that, so be it. I _will_ have you back."

Dean laughed quietly at this. "You keep sayin' that, but what are you actually gonna _do_ about it? Y'know, I think you secretly _want_ this; you just can't admit it. After all, it's like they say...Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."

Cas didn't say anything to this. He just moved forward, pulling Dean into his arms, just as the demon had done earlier. Then he whispered in his ear, "I'm sorry, Dean."

In the moments when Cas was pulling away from him, time almost seemed to slow for Dean. As the angel moved to the side, revealing Merry crawling across the floor with only one arm, dragging her useless legs behind her, Dean realized that Castiel must have slipped her his angel blade before, allowing her to cut herself free. He only had a moment to feel proud and angry at the underhanded tactic before the younger twin aimed her pistol at him.

"Fer pacem agnis perditis. Dona requiem dentibus lupi et voca malleum mortis Diabolo te iubeo!" she snarled as she fired. The demon cried out in pain when the bullet struck his shoulder, feeling an unbearable fire spreading throughout his being. Growling low in his throat, he turned to glare at Castiel.

"Don't think I'll forget this, angel. She's gonna pay for it...and I'll be back for Elaine and Sam."

Then Dean was gone and the pocket dimension was collapsing around them, leaving the twins and the angel to slip back into the reality they'd first come from.

Cas found himself standing in the same spot Dean had pulled him from. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Merry collapse to the floor, completely unmoving. She was his first priority. Moving quickly to her side, he knelt beside her and rolled her onto her back, quickly pressing his fingers to her forehead and allowing the healing energy to move through her body. She gave a sharp gasp as her eyes shot open, her injuries completely healed.

"Is she all right?" the angel heard Elaine's voice from somewhere behind him. Before he could answer, Merry was sitting up, calling out to her.

"Elaine! Elaine, are you okay? What did he do to you?" she demanded as she hurried over to her sister, who had fallen near to where Sam was lying.

"Me? What did he do to _me?_ " Elaine hissed incredulously as she looked her sister over.

"He did nothing," Cas explained gently as he moved over to them, laying a hand to the wound in Elain's stomach and easily healing it. "His deal was not completed."

"Cas...what happened in there?" Sam asked, only then drawing Cas' attention to the state he was in. He was lying flat on his back and as far as the angel could tell, his eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything. His skin was pale and soaked with sweat. It wouldn't have been noticeable to a human, but there was a slight trembling to his being - not something of the body, but of the soul.

"Sam, what...what did we do?" Cas asked as he shifted a hand over to the hunter, searching for something he might do to help.

"It isn't something you can heal," Crowley warned him from where he stood at the far side of the cabin. "It's his spiritual energy...his _soul._ "

"What happened?" Cas pressed.

"You and lover boy just about shredded him, the amount of power you had going between you. The soul's unstable right now and if I had to guess, I'd say it either passes...or it doesn't. You _can't_ fix this," Crowley said, sneering down at him.

Cas knew the demon's words were true, but even as he felt despair rise up inside of him, he also felt the thrum of something more. It was the flicker of dark light he carried inside of him, he realized with a quiet gasp. Acting on an instinct he didn't fully understand, he reached for Sam's hand, guiding it to rest against his belly.

"Cas...what are you..." Sam tried to ask, but fell silent when his hand came into contact with Cas' stomach. The angel knew without having to ask that Sam was feeling the same flicker he was. The energy that flowed from him wasn't perfectly visible. It was more like the suggestion of an image against the air: a pale white flame threaded through with veins of darkness. It didn't feel like much, but as the energy flickered between the two of them, Sam's skin began to return to its normal color and the trembling slowly came to a stop.

"What...what's happening?" Sam asked slowly, eyes gradually starting to focus on his and Cas' hands.

"I'm not sure. I'm not doing this," Cas said, starting to worry that if this energy really was coming from his child...what effect it might be having on her.

"Well, bollocks," Crowley muttered as he watched the scene unfold. "You've got to be bloody kidding me."

By the time the strange flickering of energy had settled between the two of them, Cas fell back in amazement and Sam immediately sat up, staring at the angel in mild awe.

"What the hell was that?" Sam asked.

"Oh, I don't think Hell had anything to do with it," Crowley said snidely as he moved closer to the small group. "That was the angelic side of the little monster's power."

"But...no angel could have done anything like that," Cas muttered in shock, hand rubbing absently at his belly. "I do not understand...I don't know how...I'm not..."

"Not very eloquent, apparently," the King of Hell said with a sneer. "Even if healing's the only power the beastie has, it'll be reason enough for others to covet it."

"Okay, what's all this talk about a baby?" Elaine finally asked.

"Is it safe to talk about that here?" Sam asked, gaze shifting between Cas and Crowley. "I mean...Dean might still be around."

"He isn't. The devil trap's been broken," Merry pointed out. "Plus, I shot him with a gospel bullet, so he definitely had to run off to lick his wounds."

"What was that...by the way?" Cas asked faintly, gaze briefly alighting on the younger twin. "That weapon...and the prayer..."

"Nothing I'm gonna talk about with him in the room," Merry said, glaring at Crowley. "I'm sure he'd _love_ to learn how that bullet works."

"First question still stands," Elaine interrupted. "Baby?"

"Dean...took advantage of Cas...when he was first turned," Sam explained, moving to kneel beside Cas, hoping to snap him out of whatever funk he'd fallen into.

"We're not entirely certain how it happened...but Dean and I...conceived a child that night," Cas said, not really looking at any of them as he spoke. Every time his thoughts wandered back to that night in the motel, he found himself even more torn between horror and wonder than he already had been.

For a moment, the twins just looked shocked. Elaine was the one to finally get her head together and say, "I suppose we can just chalk the impossibility of that statement up to angel mojo. If I'm following this conversation correctly...Dean doesn't know about this?"

"No. I'm not certain what he would do if he were to find out," Cas said, still staring blankly ahead.

"There's also the fact that whatever this kid is, it's clearly giving the two of them power," Sam added, placing a hand on Cas' shoulder while talking to the girls. "I think it's safe to assume the whole pocket dimension business was the result of the power boost Dean's getting. So far he probably just thinks it's a perk of being a Knight of Hell, but it probably won't be long before he starts to realize."

"And what sorts of effects have _you_ been seeing, Castiel?" Elaine asked him.

"Up until three weeks ago, he was dying," Sam answered when Cas did not. "He was just about out of grace after the situation with Metatron, but when the baby was conceived, it restored his stolen grace. Then there was this healing that shouldn't have been possible. We'll probably see more as we get further into the pregnancy."

"Meaning Dean's only going to keep getting stronger as well," Crowley pointed out with a sour expression on his face. "Just can't win with you Winchesters."

"This power is also probably what's going to allow him to recreate the Knights," Sam said slowly as the revelation washed over him. "Especially if he thinks he can twist people like you, Elaine."

"That would make sense," Cas said, slowly shaking himself out of the near trance he'd fallen into. "Creating a demon is a very...involved process. He seems to be under the impression he can just turn souls on a whim. Who knows? Maybe he can."

"That's what it sounded like...when he tried to make a deal with me just now. He would heal Merry of the...damage...he did to her, and in return my soul would be his. He said he would give me the power of a Knight of Hell. I would be one of his soldiers," Elaine said, her voice slowly trailing off as she recounted the ordeal she'd just been through. Without wasting any words, Merry pulled her sister into her arms, holding her tightly. Elaine hugged back just as fiercely.

"And that's exactly why this tosser's giving me an image problem," Crowley broke in. "This isn't how it's supposed to work, crap deal like this. Undoing damage _he's_ done and collecting a soul for practically nothing. Abaddon was just turning out meat shields, but Squirrel's actually bothering to mold fighters. This could be a major problem for all parties involved, that being basically _everyone_. Seems to me it would be in everyone's best interest if we were to...temporarily align with each other once again."

"And what happened the last time one of us was stupid enough to do that?" Sam snapped at the demon king. "That's what got us into this mess in the first place. Seems to _me_ it would serve you right if we just left you for Dean to find."

"Oh, let's not be talking about what any of us _deserve_ , Moose. We'll be here forever. Only thing under discussion tonight is what we _need._ I need some insurance against my angel stalker and the freakin' Deanmon, and you need an in with Hell and as many demons on _my_ side as possible. I can give you that, and if all goes well, we'll capture the devil and undo this whole messy business. Get back to the way things _should_ be. What do you say?"

For a long while, Sam glared at Crowley. He didn't _want_ to agree to this, but Crowley had made several pertinent points. Ultimately, the younger Winchester turned to Castiel.

"Cas? It's your kid...so it's your call."

Cas had been staring at the demon for just as long, not quite glaring, but not really pleased either.

"I would like to kill you," he said, his voice strangely mild for such a statement. "You cannot imagine how dearly I would love to kill you. I would not be merciful either. I would stretch you out on your own rack and flay each atom a thousand years for every moment I have felt Dean's soul cry out in pain. I would have you _scream,_ Crowley, and I would smile at your suffering. _That_ is my bargain, demon...but it will have to wait, as we find ourselves in a position where Dean cannot be saved without your help. We will deal with you - for now. I believe you are aware of what will happen if you betray us before our time is done."

"Right then," Crowley said with a shrug, although they'd all seen the tiny flicker of fear in the demon's eyes. "Shall we seal with a kiss, love?"

"No. This isn't that kind of deal," Cas said firmly as he got to his feet. Sam and the twins were not far behind.

"Right, however...on the subject of my angel stalker, what was it you pulled from Hannah's head before you went ballistic? What's she trying to do? Just who is this Israfil?"

"Someone Metatron claims can stop my child from being born. There are seven items required to complete this ritual Hannah spoke of and each is given in the form of a riddle. She believes the answer to the first riddle is your gun."

"What was the riddle?" Sam asked.

"The first item is the blessing of a demon lord. Seemingly impossible, as demons cannot bless. Crowley, however, uses a weapon whose bullets are forged from consecrated metal - an angel blade. Therefore, the blessing of a demon lord."

"Makes a kind of sense," Elaine said slowly.

"Personally, I'm not inclined to trust in anything that comes out of Metatron's mouth. I don't know how much I believe this tale of a fifth archangel. More likely, this ritual will further the scribe's plan in some way. It would be best to find the other six items before Hannah is able to and keep them hidden from her," Cas said.

"So what are the other riddles?" Sam asked.

"That we can discuss once we return to the bunker. While the angels cannot fly to our location, Heaven is no doubt aware of the power I raised just now. They will not be able to ignore it. Someone will come to investigate. I don't know about the rest of you, but I would rather not be here when that happens," Cas told them.

"Definitely not," Sam agreed, turning his attention to the twins. "You two okay to follow us to Kansas? Probably best for us to stick together 'til we get this worked out."

"Sure thing," Merry said with a grin and a nod. Glancing at each other for a moment, the sisters quickly went to gather up their gear.

"So, lovely Elaine, what are you riding these days? Jeep? Accord? I loved that little Lexus you nicked down in New Orleans last Mardi Gras," Crowley started as he moved to follow the twins.

"Oh, no," Sam immediately interrupted, clapping a hand on Crowley's shoulder. "Like _hell_ am I leaving you alone with them. You're sticking with us."

"No mind," Crowley said with a sneer as Sam dragged him out the door. "We'll talk later, love. Maybe bond over a few drinks. My treat. I'll see what I can do about topping Squirrel's offer."

XxX

Dean hissed in pain as he collapsed to his knees several hundred miles away from the cabin in Keystone. He hardly noticed the First Blade slip from his hand as he clawed at his chest, trying to get Merry's bullet out. However, it didn't take him long to realize that there _was_ no bullet...at least, not anymore.

When he took the time to focus through the intense agony, he found that he'd been shot with a silver bullet, and that the slug had somehow _melted_ on impact. The molten silver was now carrying the holy oil the bullet had been packed with throughout his veins, leaving him burning with holy fire.

"Good job, baby girl," he snarled as his insides scorched and slowly started to heal themselves. If he'd been any other demon, the shot just might have killed him. He'd have to find out where the Serra twins had gotten ahold of rounds like that and stop it at the source before Sam and Castiel could get their hands on them. Although, at this rate, he wasn't sure if the angel would even _need_ a weapon with the amount of power he'd displayed back there.

Dean chuckled to himself as he slowly sat up on the riverbank he'd come to rest beside. He hadn't had the chance to ask Castiel about those new powers. Somehow his grace had been restored and he was stronger than ever, just like _he_ was. Was it really just the result of the two of them fucking? Somehow he doubted it, but there was really only one way to be sure, he thought with a smirk. He certainly wouldn't mind getting the angel into bed again. Apart from it being the best damn sex he'd ever had, it was just such a fucking turn on to watch Castiel struggle _not_ to enjoy it...not to want Dean just as badly as he'd wanted him. If he happened to get an even greater power boost out of another sweet session, well, who was really complaining?

So Elaine was a bust for the moment. If she was going to be joining up with Team Free Will, he'd have to work on her later, maybe see if there was a more sensitive pressure point than her twin to work on. Whatever the case, he was not going to let Elaine Serra go like he had the others he'd already tried to deal with. He'd helped to shape the young woman's life in a way he couldn't claim with any other hunter. That and Elaine was already marked, only a few footsteps from Hell. She would make him the perfect soldier.

In the meantime, though, he'd have to focus on other candidates. He would need more fire power before going after Elaine again, or before he even _thought_ about touching Sammy, yet another hunter who was close to Hell. Besides that, it would be difficult to find a pressure point that was sensitive enough to twist with his little brother. He might have to find another way with him. He did have another redhead in mind; she'd just be a little more of a challenge to get to, as he wasn't sure of her pressure point. At this point, though, she was the best option, so he'd just have to improvise.

Dean picked up the First Blade once again as he got to his feet, shaking himself off to get rid of any lingering traces of divine fire in his system. Just out of the corner of his eye, he saw a wolf pack emerge from the forest, all of them eyeing him warily.

The demon locked eyes with the alpha for several moments, each of them sizing the other up. Even if the large black wolf couldn't completely understand, he knew the alpha could see what he was.

"Shoo," he snipped at them.

Letting out a warning howl to the rest of the forest, the alpha quickly led his pack away from the river, as far away from the demon as possible. Dean just laughed as he twirled the First Blade.

It was time for a little trip down the yellow brick road.

XxX

_He's running...running blindly...has no idea if he's running_ _**to** _ _something...or_ _**away** _ _from it. All he knows is fear...but fear of what? Fear for himself?_

_No._

_It's fear for his child. He cannot find her._ _**Where is she?** _

_He can hear her helpless, heart-wrenching cries now as things start to become clearer. He's running through a rose garden...a maze of roses. Everywhere he looks, there are fountains of the garish red blooms and the scent of them fills his nose until it's almost nauseating. As he runs, snow begins to fall._

_"Where are you?!" he cries out in desperation. He can hear her...but no matter what he does, he cannot reach her._

_"You cannot save her, Castiel," a voice murmurs in his ear...a voice from long ago. "You will love and cherish her...but in the end, she will be laid bare for all the world to see."_

_"No!" he shouts as he falls to his knees in the snow. The world around him is becoming a blur of red and white. "This cannot happen! I have- to save her!"_

_"Go, pretty child, and bear this flower Unto thy little savior; And tell Her, by that bud now blown, She is the Rose of Sharon known."_

_As the angel struggles to rise from the snow, a strange vision begins to resolve itself from the blur. It's a rose...but this rose is white like the snow...and at its heart, a splash of red...like a drop of blood._

_The Rose of Sharon._

_"You will try to save her, like any parent would, but you cannot stop what's to come. The child has a destiny on her, and you can but guide her."_

_"The Rose of Sharon?" he whispers in confusion, reaching out to caress the delicate white petals._

_"Castiel,_ _**please.** _ _I only wish to help you. I would not see this child perish. Where are you?"_

_"_ _**No!** _ _" he snarls, suddenly understanding as he pulls his hand away from the fragile flower. His fingers come away bloody...as if he's been stroking thorns instead of petals. "This isn't real. You're just trying to discern my location. Stay out of my head!"_

_"Go, pretty child, and bear this flower Unto thy little savior; And tell Her, by that bud now blown, She is the Rose of Sharon known," the voice repeats._

_"What do you mean?" he demands, pounding his bloody fists against the ground, leaving trails of red through the once white snow._

"Tell me!" Cas shouted aloud as he snapped awake from the nightmare, gaze darting furiously around the space.

"Whoa, Cas, calm down," Sam urged. When Cas saw his hand reaching toward him, he realized they were still in the car...still on the way back to the bunker.

"S-sorry," he managed to mutter as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself.

"Another nightmare?" Sam asked, voice sympathetic.

"Yes."

"Didn't sound particularly pleasant," Crowley chimed in from the back seat.

"It still isn't," the angel groaned, resisting the urge to turn around and put his blade through the demon's head. "It shouldn't be happening."

"More little beastie side effects, I'd wager. You're in for a glorious nine months. Can't say as I miss dreaming all that much," Crowley said as he thrust his legs up into the space between the two front seats.

"Seriously, man? Trying to drive here," Sam snapped at him.

"Yeah, well, Moose, I've survived the mutant Squirrel, so forgive me if you're somewhat _less_ intimidating by comparison," the demon said, making a great show of shifting his feet around.

"I would advise you move your feet if you do not wish a blade through them," Castiel warned quietly, his eyes glowing very briefly.

"You, on the other hand, are quite terrifying," Crowley readily admitted, immediately withdrawing his feet. "What's next, _Mum?_ No eating on the couch? No television until we finish our homework? No pie until we eat all our _brussels sprouts?_ "

"Don't- don't acknowledge him, Cas. It's what he wants," Sam warned him. "We're only about ten minutes out anyway."

Ten minutes from home. If only things were ever so simple in their lives...but of course they weren't, and here we stand.

As the cars sped down the highway, a woman appeared in the middle of the road. She was far enough away that Sam and Elaine had time to stop, but close enough for them to know there was something off.

"An angel," Cas said quietly as he surveyed the woman. She was somewhat older for a vessel. Her long dark hair was greying, but he could see the true form that lay behind the withering flesh. Her green eyes flashed with celestial intent and the image of her torn wings stood out starkly against the light of the setting sun.

"Do you know her?" Sam asked.

"I'm not certain. This grace is familiar to me...but its bearer died a long time ago. I do not see how this can be her."

"Well...only one way to find out," Crowley said, nudging Cas' shoulder.

"Are you really suggesting he go out and face an angel like this when every last one of them wants him dead?" Sam asked, turning to glare at the demon.

"No, Sam. Crowley is right. There is only one way. If there is a need to remove this obstacle, I will do it," Cas said as he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the car door.

"Cas, be careful," Sam advised. "Dean'd kill me if I let anything happen to the two of you now."

"I will do what I must," he said before walking forward to meet this latest adversary, not in any way reassuring. The angel did nothing as he approached, just kept her hands hanging easily at her sides.

"Castiel," she said quietly once he was close enough.

"Lailah?" he returned uncertainly.

"Yes, little one. It's me," she said, reaching out a hand to touch his cheek. He didn't know why he allowed it. For all the familiarity he felt, there was no way this could be Lailah.

"It's just...not possible. You _died_...so long ago. I do not understand."

"I'll explain everything to you, Castiel, but the middle of a highway probably isn't the best place for a talk. We really ought to-"

"How?" Cas interrupted her harshly. "How did you find me? No angel should be able to track me."

"The Rose," she answered calmly as she trailed a hand from Cas' cheek down to his stomach. "The Rose of Sharon has called me here."

_The Rose of Sharon._


	5. Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "It will pain me very much to harm you, Hannah, but as I have said, I will protect my child...no matter what it takes!" Castiel roared at her, his eyes glowing blue with holy light...
> 
> "No! Stop! No more!" Elaine finally cried out. "I'll deal. I'll make a deal. I'll do whatever you want, just stop hurting her!"...
> 
> Castiel had become a blazing star, but as divine as that light was, there was also something different about it...something dark and burning...
> 
> "I'm doin' this my way now. Stay out of it and you won't get hurt. I'll bring you Hell on a fuckin' silver platter, Castiel. Just don't try to stop me."...
> 
> "I must, Dean. Not by the will of Heaven, but by my own. I will not allow this to happen. I will raise you again...and if I must give all that I am in order to do that, so be it. I will have you back."...
> 
> "The Rose," the angel answered calmly as she trailed a hand from Cas' cheek down to his stomach. "The Rose of Sharon has called me here."...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to all...and to all a happy holiday clusterfuck!

"You," Castiel whispered in shock as he took several steps back from the angel who claimed to be Lailah. "It was _your_ voice I heard...in my dreams."

"Go, pretty child, and bear this flower Unto thy little savior; And tell Her, by that bud now blown, She is the Rose of Sharon known," the angel said quietly, still holding her hands out to show she meant no harm. "Yes, it was me. I've been trying to communicate with you, but the pattern of your dreaming is different from that of a human. It hasn't been easy."

"Well, whoever you are, why have you been trying to contact me?" he asked, holding a hand up behind him when he heard the others get out of the cars, letting them know to keep back.

"Castiel, it's me. I really am Lailah. I've been trying to reach you ever since the child was conceived."

"And how would you know about that?"

"If that question were anything more than a test, you would not ask. You _know_ I'm aware of every soul conceived on this planet at the moment of conception. I was aware of your daughter even in the moment of her making. I understand what's happening," she said, trying to take a step toward him, but he only moved further back.

"Even if I believed your claim, why should I trust you? There is no angel in all of creation who would want my child to be born. What is your aim in this?" he demanded, calling his angel blade to him.

"My aim is that I may well be the only other angel in all of creation who knows that she _must_ be born," she answered, summoning a blade of her own, but instead of attacking him with it, she laid it down on the road between them and backed off. "Perhaps now you will listen."

For a long while, Cas just stared suspiciously at her. When he finally spoke again, it was with a steely determination in his eyes.

"Prove it."

"What?"

"Prove to me you are who you say you are. We are hunted by angels and I'm not taking any chances with my child's safety. What is something only Lailah would know?" he pressed.

"That's easy enough. I remember when you were just a fledging, Castiel. I was mother to all of you in the absence of our Father. You were a curious little one...but so very quiet. I remember you had only one wish...a wish that was so dear to you. You wanted to be able to walk barefoot on grass...just like the humans did. Did you ever get to?" she asked him, a sad smile moving across her face.

"No...I don't think so," he said softly as he remembered the times she'd spoken of...it was all so long ago. "I...I'd forgotten. So much has happened..."

"Oh, Castiel, I've missed you. How I have missed _all_ of you," Lailah said, moving across the line that had been drawn between them by her discarded blade and pulling him into her arms. Cas returned the embrace without even thinking about it. As she held him close, he found himself amazed by the strength of the joy and warmth welling up from within him. It had been so long since something truly good had happened.

"Ima," he whispered against her.

_Mother..._

"Cas, who is this?" he heard Sam asking as the others approached, apparently having decided it was safe to do so when the two of them had embraced.

"She is Lailah," Cas began to explain without looking away from the older angel. "Her domain is conception and childbirth. She is a protector of children. She was the closest thing any angel knew to a mother...but she was supposed to have died a long time ago...back in the days of the pharaohs. She has yet to explain how she comes to be standing before us."

"I believe it is said in Heaven that the killing of the firstborn was too great a horror for me to bear. They say the sorrow of it killed me. Clearly that is not the case," she explained with a soft smile.

"But if it isn't...where have you been all this time? Have you really been hiding out on Earth? How is it no one's discovered you before now?" Cas continued to press.

"It was the one wish I asked of our Father. He granted it," she said solemnly. "While the murder of the firstborn didn't _kill_ me, it was something I couldn't live with. I was permitted to descend to Earth and live among the humans, forgotten."

"You weren't forgotten," Cas insisted. "We mourned you... _all_ of us. You were mother to us all."

A pained look crossed Lailah's face at this. "I know. I truly am sorry for abandoning Heaven, but I just couldn't bear such a hideous violation of my own nature. I've been living as a midwife all this time."

"But how have you been doing it?" Sam asked her. "How have you been living down here without anyone being the wiser? Some of the factions haven't been particularly nice about angels who turn their backs on Heaven," he said, glancing worriedly at Cas.

"No one would have reason to suspect I'm alive, for starters, and for another," she began as she lowered the neckline of her blouse to reveal a line of Enochian sigils tattooed across her breasts. "There is more protection than what your eyes can see."

"And what happened...after the Fall?" Cas asked her.

"You can see what happened. My wings were torn. I admit it's made me somewhat less effective, but I've continued my travels, helping new mothers in childbirth, watching over the unborn and the newborn. I would have been quite content to continue on as I was...but then I felt the conception of this little one," she said softly, reaching out a hand to press against Cas' stomach, "and I knew I had to come to you. Your child will need more protection than just the five of you can provide."

"Excuse me?" Crowley butted in at this. "Who said anything about protecting? King of Hell babysits for no one, love."

Lailah looked like she very much _wanted_ to roll her eyes, but resisted the urge...a mother who had _years_ of experience dealing with petulant children. "I know nothing of this nature has ever occurred before, but at the same time...I feel I have been in this situation before. I _knew_ I would be able to help you. Castiel...as I said earlier, your child _must_ be born. No one yet realizes it, but this is the transformation the realms have been waiting for. Everything will change."

"For better or for worse?" Elaine couldn't keep from asking.

"That I could not say. I only know that it must be."

"You said...you feel you've been in this situation before?" Cas heard himself asking, her words starting to blend with the information he'd drawn from Hannah last night. "Have you ever heard of an angel called...Israfil?"

A disquiet look came to Lailah's face at this. She brooded over the name for several moments before finally shaking her head, not in the negative, but in confusion. "My head tells me no...but my heart says otherwise. I feel a terrible ache of sorrow and regret at that name, even though I've never heard it before."

"I had thought...it might be a trick of Metatron's...a way for him to deceive Hannah into releasing him," Cas said, though he was less certain of that after seeing Lailah's reaction. Indeed, she shook her head at hearing his words.

"I don't believe so. While we can be certain anything that comes out of Metatron's mouth will only be to further his own plans, I do believe there is truth to whatever tale he's told Hannah. Whatever the case may be, I offer you my guidance and protection, to whatever end you should choose to use them."

"We would be glad of your help," Cas told her when he received no objection from the three hunters. Crowley just rolled his eyes.

"What is it about you, angel boy? No matter how many times you fail, you always seem to attract a following."

None of them would ever know what gave Elaine the courage to do it, but she smacked the King of Hell upside the head for that one. Instead of getting angry, though, he just turned back to smirk at her.

"Y'know, if you'd been anyone else, I would've snapped your spine by now. You've got pluck, lovely Elaine. I'll give you that much."

"Why do you keep doing that?" Sam was the one to finally ask the demon king.

"Doing what?" he returned, making a very poor show of playing innocent.

"Calling her that? Goading her? What's going on between the two of you?"

"Sorry, boys. A lady doesn't kiss and tell. Besides, Moose, you really think you and your brother are the only hunters I mess with? Bloody world doesn't revolve around you, you know. Self-centered much?"

"Jesus, forget I asked," Sam groaned, running a hand through his hair in exasperation, though _he_ certainly had no intention of forgetting he'd asked.

"Fascinating as this all is, does anyone else think maybe we should continue this conversation indoors?" Merry asked, glancing around at each of them.

"Right. Lailah, you're with us," Sam announced before heading back to his car.

"Really, Bullwinkle? You're going to make me sit in the back with the crazy old cat angel?" Crowley whinged as he followed the hunter back to the vehicle. Cas and Lailah exchanged a brief glance.

"He's not ever going to keep quiet, is he," the elder angel said with a sigh.

"No. No, he is not," Cas said, a note of irritation in his voice as the two of them followed the hunter and the demon back to the car.

XxX

Following her near smiting at Castiel's hands, Hannah decided it was probably better to have more of a plan for the gathering of each item. With the first riddle, she'd been so elated to have figured it out, she'd just rushed off the moment she'd been able to locate Crowley...and had just about walked to her death and had nothing to show for it. Clearly more caution was needed.

Except for the second riddle, she had no leads on any of the others. A handful of fairy dust was easy enough. Of course, fairies didn't really produce magic dust as they seemed to in human tales. If one wanted to steal a fairy's power, one had to cut off their wings and grind them into powder: fairy dust. Like angels, fairies had wings that humans couldn't perceive, but they were just as glorious as any angel's wings. To cut a fairy's wings off wouldn't _kill_ it per se, but life may well not be worth living anymore once they were gone. Hannah didn't relish the idea of causing a living being such agony, but it was something she was willing to do for Castiel's sake. So, before setting off on her second mission, the young angel prayed for forgiveness for the horrible act she was about to commit. Then she opened a gateway into fairy and departed.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been able to enter Faerie without going through the proper channels in Heaven, but with her home still in chaos, it wasn't all that difficult to slip through unnoticed. As such, it was with a great deal of guilt in her heart that Hannah found herself in the Hollow Forest of Arkmoor, plying a fairy maid with cream liqueur. She may as well let the lovely creature have one last moment of pleasure before she took everything from her.

Lovely creature? Had she really just thought that? Perhaps the alcohol was affecting her more because she was in Faerie...or perhaps it was the magic of Faerie itself. Whatever the case may have been, this fairy truly was beautiful. It would be a grievous sin to take her wings from her.

_Castiel,_ she reminded herself as she refilled Gilda's cup once more. _Remember Castiel._

"This cream is truly delicious," the fairy sang just before downing the contents of the cup. With a giggle, she fell backwards off the log they were sitting on, legs flailing awkwardly in the air. "I shall have to make a point of visiting the human realm more often."

"Certainly, my lady. Another?" she asked, holding out the nearly empty bottle.

Through the ungainly tangle of limbs, the fairy somehow managed to hold out her cup, which Hannah obligingly refilled. Then Gilda somehow managed to bring herself to be propped up on the log by her elbows, taking this latest refill a little slower. "And of course...if I visited more often...I'd be able to see _you._ "

"Yes," Hannah said softly, reaching out a hand to touch the pink and green patterning of Gilda's wings. The fairy shivered in pleasure at the contact.

"I'd like that. Wouldn't you like that?" Gilda asked, leaning in very close to press a whisper-light kiss to her ear. Hannah also found herself shivering at the touch.

"I would."

Then, before another word could be exchanged, Gilda was pressing her lips against Hannah's. The angel gasped into the kiss, but couldn't help returning the press of lips all the same. As it intensified, she felt an unfamiliar sensation wend its way from her lips down to her loins. It was frightening and scintillating all at once...a desperate desire she didn't understand and had no hope of controlling. In only a moment, though, her budding desires came to nothing, because Gilda passed out in her arms.

Hannah had never wept...not once in the many thousands of years of her existence, never during the wars, nor when she'd fallen from Heaven...not even when she'd thought Castiel had betrayed Heaven, nor when he'd fallen victim to Hell's latest trickery.

Hannah wept now. She sobbed as she held the drunk fairy in her arms, wept as if her heart were breaking...for it was. She knew there would be no coming back from this. Gilda was such a kind soul. Why did it have to be her? Why did this sweet fairy have the misfortune of being the first one she'd encountered upon entering the realm? Why? Why? _Why?_ Why had this task fallen to _her?_ Why had Castiel fallen into temptation in the first place? Hannah knew she deserved the Cage itself for the hideous act she was about to commit.

_Father, please...grant peace to this innocent soul,_ she prayed as she pressed a tender kiss to Gilda's forehead, then another even more loving one to her lips. _Let me see my task through to the end. Then, once Castiel is redeemed and creation is safe again...then let me be cast into Hell. Let me be punished for what I must do to this precious soul._

With that, Hannah gently laid Gilda on her back and bound her hands and feet together, just in case she should wake. That done, she took up the bottle of liqueur and quickly drained it...one last knife to her awful guilt. Would Gilda feel any better about what was to happen if she knew her sacrifice was helping to preserve all of creation?

No. Most probably not.

"Please forgive me, Gilda," she begged softly, running a gentle hand along the side of the fairy's face before snapping her eyes shut and shifting Gilda onto her stomach. Then she called down her angel blade.

Thankfully, Gilda remained passed out during the whole grizzly procedure. When the lovely wings were separated from her body, they still shimmered with the power of her now severed magic. Even though she was covered in the fairy's silvery blood, Hannah found herself somehow disconnected from it all. Once it was done, she used her power to close Gilda's wounds. Then she removed the jacket she'd been wearing and used it to cover the fairy's now diminished form. She looked so much smaller like this...colder.

Once she'd made sure Gilda was as comfortable as she could possibly be, Hannah set to work grinding the wings down into powder, and when all was said and done, the fairy dust was no more substantial than a handful of snow. It was only enough to fill a small glass bottle.

Just as Hannah was tucking the precious bottle into her pocket, she began to feel something unsettling: another presence entering Faerie.

This new presence was neither human nor angelic. It was a demon - _the_ demon, in fact.

Dean.

Dean Winchester had come to Faerie.

XxX

"Oi, Red! Duck!"

The moment Charlie heard Dorothy's voice, she complied, throwing herself to the ground as a hail of flechette projectiles hurtled over her head. She looked up just in time to see the flechettes take out the line of Winkie guerrillas that had been heading toward her.

" _Now!_ " Dorothy shouted. "Take 'em down!"

Immediately, Charlie rose up to her full height and took aim at the downed line with her crossbow, firing a volley of emerald-tipped arrows at them. Each Winkie went up in smoke upon being struck through the heart.

"Hell yeah, bitches!" the redhead cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "I totally _wasted_ those motherfuckers!"

"Sure did," Dorothy said, voice full of pride as she came up to pound her on the shoulder. "Y'know, I thought I was gonna get sick of how excited you get after each fight real fast, but nope. It's actually still adorable. Bad ass little bunny with a crossbow," she said, squeezing Charlie's shoulder for perhaps a little longer than was strictly necessary. Charlie was glad her partner couldn't see the blush on her face when she moved away to inspect the spot where the Winkies had fallen.

"Can't help it. I've been waiting my whole life for this. I don't think I'm ever _not_ gonna be giddy when we get into a fight." _Or when you call me things like adorable little bunny._

"Works for me," Dorothy said as she bent to examine the ash the guerrillas had left behind. "Yep. Total annihilation. That group won't be reforming. We can meet up with Fiyero's group in the south. Help them finish cleaning up. There might actually be an end in sight here."

"You think?" Charlie asked, hoping Dorothy wouldn't notice her miserable attempt at playing casual. "So what do you suppose'll happen then?"

"Oh, I dunno. I'm not really the settling type," she said, not looking back at Charlie.

"Yeah, heheh...me neither," she said with a nervous laugh. Wasn't that the bleeding understatement of the year.

"We could always branch out to other realms...see what else is lying around in Faerie," Dorothy suggested

"You think?" Charlie asked hopefully before clumsily trying to curb her enthusiasm. "I mean...that'd be cool."

In the past year they'd been running together, Charlie knew she'd been more of a sidekick to Dorothy than an actual partner, but the other hunter didn't seem to mind it. She'd helped Charlie to improve a lot. Hell, she'd be a goddess among hunters if she ever happened to make it back to Earth. Even so, she sometimes still found herself acting like a lovestruck puppy around Dorothy, and for the life of her, she had no idea if the other hunter had really noticed. Normally, Charlie was never shy about her interest in a potential romantic interest, but Dorothy was different from anyone she'd ever known. It was almost as if she was untouchable...out of reach in a way Charlie had never been able to define. She hadn't had many friends in her life and Dorothy was one person she was truly fearful of wrecking her friendship with on the slim chance there might be something more there.

No. If there was any move to be made here, it would have to come from Dorothy.

"Actually, I've got a better idea," a new voice announced. "Let's forget about Fiyero and talk about a more...hmm... _rewarding_ future for all parties involved."

"Hold the phone," Charlie started as she spun on her heels to see the new arrival: none other than Dean Winchester, just emerging from the forest with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Dean! How the hell did _you_ get into Oz?"

"What? That's all the hello you have for your kinda big brother?" he asked, holding his arms wide for her. Charlie ran to him with a squeal, just about tackling him to the ground with her hug.

Charlie knew something was wrong the moment she was in Dean's arms. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something just wasn't right. Dean gripped her just a little too tight and when she looked up at him, there was something off about his smile.

"Charlie?" she heard Dorothy calling, her voice slightly on edge. She'd been with her long enough to know when she sensed trouble.

"What...what are you doing here? Where's Sam?" she asked. She tried to pull away, but he held her firmly against his chest.

"Aw, Charlie, you look scared. What's wrong?" he asked, snaking out his tongue to lick his lips.

"Well, you _are_ scaring me, Dean. What the hell's going on here?"

"Lots happened while you were off on your little over the rainbow trip, Bradbury. Lots," he said with a sneer. His fingers were starting to dig into her arms.

"I'm not playing around here, man. Let me go right now!" she ordered, now really fighting against his hold. Nothing she did seemed to break his grip, though. His fingers were like iron against her skin, harsh and unyielding.

"Who said _I_ was playin' around? We got important things to talk about, you and me," he said, and as he looked down at her, his green eyes shifted to an inky black color, leaving her to gasp in shock.

"What- what's _happened_ to you?"

"Hey! Bright eyes!" she heard Dorothy shout, the sound of her flechette gun being prepped joining with the angry cry. "You'd better get your hands off of her if you know what's good for you!"

Dean actually laughed at this, slowly shaking his head. "Let's not even get into that."

With that, Dean shoved her away, pushing her hard to the ground. Then he vanished.

"Red, are you okay?" Dorothy asked as she hurried to her, weapon still held at the ready, but before she could reach Charlie, Dean reappeared out of nowhere, seizing Dorothy and holding what looked like an animal's jawbone to her neck like a blade.

"Dorothy!" Charlie cried out as she struggled to her knees.

"Hey, no, no. Don't struggle. Don't fight," Dean said to both of them, his voice strangely soothing. Dorothy fought, but she was clearly no match for the strength the elder Winchester was now in possession of. "This is gonna be nasty enough as it is."

"Dean, what the _fuck!_ What are you doing?" Charlie demanded desperately, remaining on her knees so as to keep her former friend from doing anything drastic.

"What I have to, Charlie. I know it looks bad right now, but you'll be thankin' me for this before too long," he told her, pressing the jawbone to Dorothy's neck and drawing a thin line of blood...maybe just to prove he could.

"Look, whatever you want, I'm pretty sure Dorothy has nothing to do with it. If you just let her go, you and me can talk-"

"Don't play the hostage situation game with me, honey. Li'l Miss Ruby Slippers has everything to do with it. We're all just gonna sit down and have a friendly little chat. I'm gonna tell you what's goin' down...and you and me are gonna make a deal. If you don't feel like dealin', well...Dorothy's loss, I guess."

Charlie swallowed heavily as she stared into Dean's black eyes. She'd been afraid before, no doubt. She'd experienced more fear in just the past few years than most people ever faced in a lifetime, but this was different. The creature standing before her now was her friend...or at least, he _had_ been her friend. She'd thought that maybe she understood a bit of what the Winchesters had gone through in their lives, but now, facing Dean down like this...she was only just beginning to understand that she wasn't even close.

"Okay, Dean. Let's talk. What do you want with me?"

XxX

Crowley could understand developing a taste for human food. He himself certainly had a taste for fine dining. What he couldn't understand was Castiel's fixation with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The stew Elaine had whipped up for the group out of whatever the Winchesters had had lying around in the bunker kitchen was actually very good, all things considered: savory and robust with just a hint of smoke. It was an exemplary offer of the elder Serra twin's considerable culinary skill...but all Cas had wanted was that damnable PB&J. He might almost have been insulted on Elaine's behalf had he not recalled somewhere in the back of his mind that pregnancy involved this sort of thing...odd cravings and all that. Long after the others had finished the meal, Cas was still munching on a fourth sandwich, just barely remembering to swallow before adding his input to the current conversation.

"Lailah, what did you mean before?" Cas asked the elder angel.

"About what?"she returned, taking a sip of the chamomile tea Sam had made for everyone.

"I asked you how you'd found me...and you said that the Rose of Sharon called you to me. You've been saying that in my dreams for the past three weeks. What did you mean by that?"

Lailah looked uncertain for several long moments and when she didn't answer, Sam was the one to finally speak up.

"The Rose of Sharon?" he repeated. "No one's...really sure which plant the phrase literally refers to, but...more commonly, it's a reference to Jesus Christ," he said, glancing back and forth between Cas and Lailah.

"That is true," the elder angel said quietly.

"So...what? Cas is gonna give birth to some kind of savior?" Merry asked.

"That isn't...precisely what it means, no. The man you all refer to certainly wouldn't have thought of himself as a savior. He was a catalyst...a spur for change. Castiel's daughter has the same sort of soul. Her existence will change everything."

"So she _does_ have a soul?" Sam clarified.

"Certainly. After all, what is a human soul but the brightest of Heaven and the darkest of Hell? She will be unlike any being ever before born on this planet, but yes, she does in fact have a soul.

"And is it more than just the celestial being?" Sam continued to press.

"You mean is there a physical pregnancy? Yes, there is an actual fetus growing inside of Castiel's vessel as we speak. The girl will have human form. Granted, she is more celestial intent at the moment than physical form, but I believe that will change as she grows."

"Just 'cuz I'm curious, how do you know it's a girl?" Merry asked.

Lailah raised an eyebrow at this. "I've borne witness to every conception on this planet. I'm witnessing them even now. I know."

"And how do you know this thing isn't an abomination that needs to be snuffed out before it destroys us all?" Crowley put in.

Cas glared at him. "I let you live, Crowley. If killing my child is to be how you repay me, I may just have to take Dean's offer of Hell on a silver platter. Then we'll see about that history of torture you were speaking of," he growled. Crowley raised his hands in surrender, but he didn't back down.

"Legitimate question, Your Nibs. You _don't know_ what this thing will become. Can't speak for you and the suicide watch brothers, but some of us actually like existing. I'm not putting my life on the line for something that would just as happily turn around and kill me."

"Says _you,_ " Elaine snipped with a roll of her eyes.

"No child is inherently evil," Lailah said firmly. "No soul is born a monster. All I can say for this child is that she will have great power. She has it already without even being truly conscious of it. It will be up to the people who love her to show her how to use that power responsibly."

"Oh, lovely. The Spider-Man talk," the King of Hell grumbled.

"Lay off, man. Nobody's making you stay here this time," Sam reminded him, to which the demon gave a conceding nod and finally shut his trap.

"I can taste the sandwich again," Cas commented absently in the ensuing silence.

"Translation?" Elaine asked, eyes shifting between Sam and the two angels.

"After the Fall, Cas was human for a few months," Sam explained. "When he regained grace and became an angel again, he said he couldn't taste food anymore."

"I can now," Cas said, his focus shifting back to Lailah. "I find myself...actually _needing_ to consume food, to sleep...all of the old human things. Why do you suppose that would be?"

"My guess would be these are things the child needs of you. As powerful as she is, she's still a growing little girl, and your vessel isn't designed for bearing children. She will give you and Dean great strength, but she will take just as much from you. I can guarantee the coming months will tax you greatly. You will suffer very much. Are you ready for that?" she asked, reaching a hand across the table to rest on top of his. He met her gaze with utter conviction in his eyes.

"Yes. I am prepared to lay down my life for Dean's daughter."

"And here's to hoping it doesn't come to _that,_ " Sam said before draining the rest of his tea. He was probably going to need a beer before this conversation was over.

"But let's be honest with ourselves; it probably will. It usually does," Crowley pointed out.

"Crowley-" Elaine started to growl.

"I know. I know. Shutting the fuck up," he said before zipping his lips.

"Something that's been bugging me...you guys think there are already angels on the hunt for this kid, yeah?" Merry asked, getting to her feet and starting to walk around the table.

"Yes," Cas answered.

"Well...how come Hannah's the only one you've seen? If they're as afraid of this kid as you think they are, shouldn't there be platoons of angels roaming the streets looking to knife anyone who even looks pregnant?"

"What are you thinking?" Sam asked her.

"I'm thinking...what if they don't know? I mean...who all do you know for sure knows about this?"

"The six of us here and Hannah. I suppose Metatron must know if she went to him for help," Cas surmised.

"So...what if nobody else knows? You said she thinks she's saving your life. What would happen if she told Heaven about this?"

"They would hunt me down...and if they did not outright kill me, they would kill the child within me," Cas said slowly.

"Okay, yeah, I get what you're saying. So Hannah may well be in this hunt alone," Sam said, getting up and starting to pace with Merry. "And if we can keep her from carrying out this ritual, maybe keep the other angels from finding out, we might just have a shot at this."

"Well...for that, we would need to solve the rest of Metatron's riddle," Cas said, looking up at Sam with a new glint in his eyes.

"Let's do this thing then. What's the rest of the riddle?" Sam pressed.

"We know the first item. The second is a handful of fairy dust. The third is the heart of a desperate child. The fourth is the perfect height of faith, hatred, and love. The fifth is the trust of one who is not yet a mother. The sixth is a ring of perfectly mirrored hunters' blood. The seventh item is a mother whose circle is unbroken," Cas recounted, remembering the way Metatron's words had sounded in Hannah's head...full of hope and redemption. But to him these words sounded ominous - ominous, aching, and horribly sad. Whatever had happened to Israfil, it was something no living creature should have to endure.

"All right, well, we know from Crowley's gun that these things aren't literal," Merry started.

"Yeah, y'know, hence the word _riddle,_ " Crowley sniped, but neither Sam nor Merry was paying him any mind.

"So what do they mean by fairy dust then?" Elaine wondered aloud.

"I imagine that's somehow a reference to stealing a fairy's magic," Lailah said. "Such a thing is accomplished by cutting their wings off. Hannah would need to cross to Faerie for that."

"Guess we can't worry about that one," Sam decided. "If she can just clip the wings off any random fairy, no way we can keep her from that one. Next one."

"The heart of a desperate child," Merry rattled off.

"Not necessarily an actual heart. Emotions, maybe...something representative of the heart, love...a love symbol...someone who falls in love, maybe a ring?" Elaine suggested.

"But how does that fit with a desperate child?" Sam asked. "Maybe...someone who's desperate to be loved...who's never been loved before...why a child, though?"

"Don't suppose it could mean a virgin, do you?" Merry asked.

"That could also apply to the fifth item, the trust of one who is not yet a mother," Sam pointed out. "That could be any woman who hasn't had children."

"Somehow I doubt that. This ritual pertains to Israfil," Lailah reminded them. "If I understand Metatron's story correctly, Israfil was one who was robbed of her chance to be a mother. More likely we seek someone who is already pregnant."

"Hell, it could even be _you_ , Cas," Sam said.

"No, I don't think so," Crowley interjected before Cas could say anything. "See, your angel boy trusts just a bit too easily. If the requirement is the _trust_ of one who is not yet a mother, you'll be needing someone whose trust is harder to gain."

"I am inclined to agree with Crowley on that one," Cas said. "Besides, we have yet to address the fourth item. What is the perfect height of faith, hatred, and love?"

"Well, that's just nice and poetic isn't it," Merry said as she flopped back into a chair.

"Yes, poetry!" Sam immediately latched onto the word. "That's absolutely what we're dealing with here. A perfect height...faith, hate, love...maybe someone who's lost their faith."

"Pretty strange perfect height. I would say a breakup, but that's just as strange," Merry said. "What about sex?"

"What does faith have to do with sex?" Sam asked. "Plus, I'd sure hope I don't hate the person I'm sleeping with."

"Oh, my God," Elaine suddenly interrupted. "You guys, I think I know what the sixth item is."

"Well?" Sam pressed.

"Merry...it's you and me. A ring of perfectly mirrored hunters' blood. Perfectly mirrored. How many sets of hunter twins can there possibly be running around out there?"

"You definitely might have a point on that one," Sam agreed.

"So...if she needs our blood, I guess the solution to that is to keep separate. She can't get what she needs if she can't get both of us," Elaine said.

"Only one above ground at a time then?" Merry asked, looking somewhat dejected by the idea.

"No other choice," Elaine said as she stood from her own chair, moving over to her sister and resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I know. I get it. It just really sucks."

"And if we have that item correct, the only one we have yet to talk about is the seventh," Lailah said. "The mother whose circle is unbroken."

"Don't suppose that one could be sexual, do you?" Merry asked them, a somewhat self-deprecating smile on her face.

"What? Do you mean like a virgin birth or something?" Sam asked.

"No such thing," Lailah said right away.

"You know, kiddies, as thrilling as all this conjecture is, it doesn't seem like it'll do us much good if Hannah still manages to get the drop on us," Crowley interjected once again. "Seems to me the best thing we can do is get a tail on little miss angel. If you'll excuse me a moment, I might just have something we can do about that."

Before anyone could really say anything, Crowley had gone, leaving them all just a little bit more confused than when they'd started. Cas was the first to fill the vacuum the demon king had left.

"This actually works out very well. While our...partner...is absent, I'd like to ask you something," the angel said as he also stood from the table, looking directly at Merry.

"About the bullet I used, you mean," the younger twin said quietly.

"Yes...and that prayer...what was it?"

For a moment, the twins glanced at each other. After seeming to come to some sort of conclusion, they turned back to the two angels and the hunter.

"Fer pacem agnis perditis," Merry said slowly.

"Bring peace to the lost lambs," Elaine translated.

"Dona requiem dentibus lupi."

"I bid thee give rest to the fangs of the wolf."

"Et voca malleum mortis Diabolo te iubeo."

"And call the hammer of death unto the Devil," Elaine finished solemnly.

"And that's...what? A prayer? An incantation?" Sam asked, glancing between Cas and the twins.

"Something like that. It's a new type of ammunition we were supposed to be testing out for a friend of ours. The words are inscribed into the bullet. Saying them aloud is supposed to compound their effect. She calls the round a gospel. Once she's got the makeup right, she's pretty sure she'll have a round that can kill both angels and demons," Elaine explained.

"Kill angels? How?" Cas asked her.

"You think Crowley's the only one who would think to melt down an angel blade? Hunter's been working on the gospel for years now. I'm pretty sure Dean only survived because he's a Knight of Hell, but any other demon or angel, those bullets can kill," Merry said.

"Hunter? What do you mean hunter? The hunter who designed these bullets?" Sam asked, trying to ignore the fact that Merry hadn't known whether or not her shot would kill Dean.

"No, that's her name. Hunter Silver. Never met her before? She specializes in supernatural weaponry. Kind of a family business for the Silvers," Merry said.

"Silver?" Sam repeated, a memory slowly starting to spark in his brain. "You mean like...Joseph and Lily Silver? The hunter couple who died in the Packwood takedown? What was that...fifteen years ago?"

"You got it," Merry said.

"I didn't know they had a daughter."

"Yeah, well. She likes to keep a low profile...unlike _some_ people," Merry said, throwing a smirk his way. "Big bad Winchesters."

"So...wait. Her parents were hunters and they _named_ her Hunter?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much. Why?" Elaine asked him.

Sam shrugged. "Nothing. Just haven't decided if that's sadistic or awesome yet."

"Well, seems to suit her well enough. Once word gets out that these rounds work, she's gonna be the biggest arms dealer in the business," Merry said.

"Have you got any more rounds?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, a whole case out in the Jeep. What're you thinking?" Elaine asked.

"I'm thinking if we're gonna be fighting both sides here, this ammunition might be useful. Do you know where Hunter Silver operates?"

"She's got a little workshop outside of Remington, Virginia. Real small town, nobody bothers her...well, until recently anyway," Merry said, glancing uncertainly at her sister.

"Why's that?" Sam asked.

"Three other hunters used to operate out of her workshop. They got into it with a gang of Abaddon junkies about a month ago. The gospels weren't ready yet. Hunter was the only one who got out. They got her out so she could finish her work," Elaine answered.

Sam sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. Dealing with the deaths of three friends and no doubt feeling responsible for it, he was almost surprised Hunter Silver had managed to turn out working ammunition, much less the demon-killing type. He didn't envy this girl one bit, knowing just how important she was about to become.

"Sam, this woman's work could be very valuable to us. We need to get to her before anyone else does," Cas told him.

"Yeah, right. Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Merry and I will head out to Virginia, see if we can get Hunter to move shop. Think you can handle guard duty, Elaine?" he asked her.

"Sure," she said with a nod.

"Crowley'll probably be coming back. You gonna be okay with him?"

"Yeah, sure," she said, and if Sam hadn't seen Elaine Serra at her worst, he might not have seen the moment of hesitation in her eyes, but he had and he did.

"Hold on," Cas started. "If I'm understanding your plan correctly, you mean for me to stay here."

"That's right," Sam said, fixing Cas with a very pointed stare.

"Sam, no. What if you run into trouble out there? You might need my help," the angel argued.

"That's why Merry's going with me. We'll watch each other's backs. I don't want you leaving the bunker until the situation's a little more stable. Honestly, I shouldn't have even asked you to come to Colorado with me. We all saw how that one almost turned out. I let Metatron hurt Dean. _I_ let him use the Blade and _I'm_ the one who let him go up against Metatron alone. It was _my fault._ The _least_ I can do for him 'til we get him back is make damn sure nothing happens to you or the baby!" Sam snapped at him as he slammed his fist down on the table. Lailah and the twins stared at him in shock, but Cas just looked hurt...like the proverbial kicked puppy.

"It wasn't," he said softly, blue eyes bright with sorrow.

"Wasn't what?" Sam hissed as he turned away from him.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, we're definitely not having _that_ conversation. We'll be here all night."

"You are correct, though. It was foolish of me to leave the bunker...careless and selfish. It isn't just myself I have to think on anymore. I will remain here...for now, but if you need me, promise me you'll call. I want to help in any way I possibly can," the angel insisted.

"Yeah, sure, Cas. I promise," Sam said quietly as he turned back to him. "But the best thing you can do right now is stay alive. We'll figure everything else out later. Merry, we're heading out in an hour."

Merry might have responded, but that was the moment they were interrupted.

"Sam, I need your help."

The five of them looked up to see Dorothy standing in the doorway, holding the key to Oz and looking badly shaken.

"Something terrible's happened."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note - the twins' incantation is actually from a show called Chrno Crusade, but the Latin translation is my own. It just seemed like something that fit very well with Supernatural. I also don't believe I've made a note of this before, but the line of verse Lailah keeps repeating is from the poem "To His Savior, a Child: a Present by a Child" by Robert Herrick. It's just been altered slightly to suit the story. Metatron's little bit of verse regarding Israfil is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe titled just that: "Israfil." Shame on me for not leaving these notes before!


	6. Silver Bullets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "Lailah's domain is conception and childbirth. She is a protector of children. She was the closest thing any angel knew to a mother...but she was supposed to have died a long time ago..."
> 
> "Please forgive me, Gilda," she begged softly, running a gentle hand along the side of the fairy's face before snapping her eyes shut and shifting Gilda onto her stomach. Then she called down her angel blade...
> 
> "Li'l Miss Ruby Slippers has everything to do with it. We're all just gonna sit down and have a friendly little chat. I'm gonna tell you what's goin' down...and you and me are gonna make a deal. If you don't feel like dealin', well...Dorothy's loss, I guess."...
> 
> "The man you all refer to certainly wouldn't have thought of himself as a savior. He was a catalyst...a spur for change. Castiel's daughter has the same sort of soul. Her existence will change everything. As powerful as she is, she's still a growing little girl, and your vessel isn't designed for bearing children. She will give you and Dean great strength, but she will take just as much from you. I can guarantee the coming months will tax you greatly. You will suffer very much. Are you ready for that?" Lailah asked...

"Dorothy!" Sam exclaimed, quickly moving toward her and helping her into the room. She looked like she very much wanted to push him away, but at the same time, she was too shaken to refuse his help. By the time he helped her into a chair, she was barely in control of her shaking. "You're not hurt are you? What happened? What are you even _doing_ here?"

"One...one question at a time," she said, trying to laugh and failing. The hard confidence Sam remembered from their first meeting was gone, just barely held as a shattering facade over shock and horror.

"Here, drink this," Lailah said, reappearing with a glass of water. Dorothy tried to take it, but when she proved unable to grip it, Lailah simply held it to her lips and she drank that way.

"Dorothy...what happened?" Sam asked again once the hunter had had a chance to breathe. "Where's Charlie? Why isn't she with you?"

"We- we were attacked...by your brother," she struggled to explain.

"Oh, God," Sam whispered in horror, briefly glancing down at the floor. "What...what happened?"

"He said...he wanted her to become a Knight of Hell. When she refused him, he...he tortured me."

"Dean," Cas whispered, his voice thick with quiet anguish.

_Dean, why?_

"I kept...telling her not to give in to him," Dorothy said quietly, closing her eyes tightly against the memory. "I told her not to do anything stupid for me. I would have _died_ for that stupid little red!"

"But Charlie couldn't bear to watch someone else she cared about die," Sam supplied for her. Dorothy nodded.

"It got to a point where she just couldn't take it anymore. I was close to gone. I wish...she'd held out just a little longer. Then I would've died and she would've been free," Dorothy snarled, slamming an angry fist against the table.

"No. Charlie wouldn't have been able to live with herself if you'd died for her," Elaine reassured the other hunter.

"Guess not. Either way, she made the damn deal. He healed me...then he ran her through with his blade. I don't know what he did, but...when she opened her eyes again, they were black."

"Was there anything else?" Sam pressed. "Did they happen to mention where they were going? What their other targets might be? Anything at all?"

"No...there was nothing," Dorothy said, looking away from them in a way that suggested there very much _was_ something else...but something personal...something she wasn't comfortable sharing with them. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't help them. It would only cause her more pain. "I just...I knew you were the only one who could help me, so I came to find you."

"It's okay, Dorothy. We're going to get Dean back. We can get Charlie back, too," he tried to reassure her. "Lailah, can you stay with her for a bit? We need to talk," he said, glancing around at Cas and the twins.

"Of course," Lailah said, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside Dorothy while Sam led the others down into the war room.

"It's getting worse," Cas said, pain sharp in his eyes as he looked at Sam.

"I know," Sam growled, feeling a very Dean-like desire to just punch the walls. It twisted his insides in knots to think of Charlie as a demon...sweet, sassy, fun-loving Charlie. Who else might Dean hurt in his quest to resurrect the Knights? Who was his next target? How could they _stop_ him? "Merry, I'm sorry, but we need to get gone yesterday. For all we know, Hunter could be Dean's next victim. We need to get to Virginia as fast as we can."

"Right," Merry said, quickly heading away to get ready.

"Elaine, can you keep an eye on Dorothy? Make sure she's all right?"

"Of course."

"And Cas...just...just be careful," Sam said. For a moment, the angel just looked confused.

"I will, Sam...but why do you insist?"

"I don't know. I just...I feel like he might try to draw you out for some reason. If he calls to you, you need to _promise_ me you won't answer. It's too dangerous. You said it yourself. It's not just your own well-being you have to worry about now," Sam reminded him.

Castiel felt something claw at his heart at the thought of shutting Dean out. He wasn't certain if he could keep such a promise, but he knew he would have to try, just the same. Finally, he nodded, keeping his eyes closed to avoid looking at Sam.

"Yes. Do what you must. I will remain here."

XxX

Crowley hadn't spent a great deal of time in Hell since Dean had toppled Abaddon. As he'd tried to tell the throne-stealing son of a bitch before, it was complicated, and it seemed it would only be getting more so if the current state of things was anything to go by.

The plains of Hell were chaotic with battle. Unlike Abaddon, who had only promised Hell and Earth to the teeming masses, Dean was promising them Heaven as well...all of creation to run roughshod over. If he could get Castiel to agree to this whole business, he was well in a position to deliver on those promises. All the Abaddon loyalists he'd had locked up had been set free and while demon fighting demon wasn't exactly anything new, it was still depressing to think of the cleanup that lay ahead once this whole affair was resolved...

... _if_ it was resolved.

While Hell was going to Hell around them, Crowley was pacing back and forth in his office before a line of six demons, all of them handpicked for the missions he had in mind. None of them were particularly powerful, just well-suited to the tasks, clever, and not a one of them wanted to see Dean ascend to the throne of Hell. Unlike the weak-minded masses falling for the Winchester's promises of conquest, he had been able to trust this cadre of demons with the truth behind Dean's meteoric rise in power, and they understood just how dangerous it was. They knew just how precarious the situation was and they were ready to fight for their king. Strangely enough, Crowley found he couldn't keep himself from grinning, despite the present danger.

"So you all understand how this is to work, yes?" he asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"Of course," Olivia answered for all of them. "All in the bag, boss man. We'll get her done."

"Good. And you've all got your assigned drop points?"

"Straight up."

"All right. You'll deploy in teams of two."

"And if we don't receive instruction at the drop points?" Kaoru asked, his gaze shifting between Olivia and Crowley.

"Then you'll meet up in 'frisco and plan from there. The important point here is not to let Squirrel catch up with you. You really don't want to know what he can do to you now."

"So Hannah was last seen in Keystone?" Olivia clarified.

"Yes."

"Well, gotta start somewhere," she said, voice oddly chipper for a demon about to embark on a covert mission. Grabbing Kaoru by the elbow, she poofed out of the office with him in tow.

"The pair of you may need to split up at some point," Crowley addressed the second group, Lastelle and Magdelene. "It's Lebanon for you."

"No worries," Lastelle said, grinning as he glanced at his partner. "How 'bout it, Mags? Ready to make some trouble?"

"You have no idea," she said, both of them grinning maniacally as they joined hands and disappeared.

"And the two of you will be sticking with me for the moment. Better chance of meeting up with our Winchester on the actual battlefield," Crowley said to the last pair of demons, Dana and Akilina.

"You think he won't realize you're putting a tail on him?" Dana asked, his form shifting with nerves. Just because he was willing to fight for Crowley's regime didn't mean he wasn't unnerved by the idea of the Knights of Hell returning.

"I'm actually counting on it. If it all goes according to plan, you should have an opportunity to get close to him. We're taking no chances with this little bastard."

"And which little bastard would that be exactly?" Akilina asked with a smirk. "There seem to be a lot of those recently."

"Either or. They're both colossal pains in my arse and Castiel's not far behind. The important thing is he not find out about the abomination. I shudder to think what he might do with that information."

"And what information's that?" Dean's familiar and now feared voice sounded as the door to the office was blown open. The former hunter stormed into the office wielding the First Blade, followed by a squad of demons. Among them was the redhead Crowley remembered seeing in the bunker several months back. Charlie? Whatever her name was, she was covered in blood and her eyes were black. Even though she didn't look like much, Crowley could sense the great power within her. She was the second knight of Hell - Dean's righthand woman.

"Well, so much for sentinels," Crowley said with a sigh before attempting to teleport away...only to find that he couldn't. As had happened with Cain, he was trapped here with the Knights of Hell. "Bollocks."

"That's fuckin' right, bollocks. You're not goin' anywhere. Turns out I didn't need Cain to teach me how to shut you up. You and me, we're gonna talk about new management...and about that abomination you were just talkin' about."

"Oh, you know, any number of abominations lying around. We _are_ in Hell, after all. Miss the old place, Winchester?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Don't really like what you've done with it. This shit is fuckin' boring. I think what the place needs is a return to...simpler times," Dean said, grinning as he went to sit on Crowley's desk. As the rest of his posse surrounded the office, Charlie moved toward Crowley, subduing him faster than even he could track. Almost before he was aware of it, he was on his knees before Dean with an angel blade at his throat.

"Move and I'll gladly take this bitch's head off," Charlie warned Dana and Akilina, digging the blade in just slightly.

"Do what they say," Crowley said, nervously eyeing Dean.

"Good boy," Dean said with a chuckle.

"I warned Abaddon and I'll repeat that warning for your sake, Dean, seeing as how you're practically family...but you _cannot_ rule this place with chaos. It _will destroy you._ You will _burn._ "

"What? Because I haven't already? I burn. That's what I _do._ Not many people know that better than you. Guess I could thank you for the warning, Gramps, but I think you and I both know I'm a whole different animal from that other bitch. I've got big plans for this used car lot. I think you and I both know I can work this deal. So...tell me about this abomination," Dean invited, scraping the First Blade along the surface of the desk. Crowley winced as the harsh sound filled his ears.

"It's nothing!" the demon king snarled at him.

"Yeah, 'cuz you _shudder_ to think what I'd do with the information. I can see just how nothing that is," Dean hissed as he hopped off the desk and walked toward them. "Is this a secret you're really willin' to _die_ for?"

Crowley glared up at the would-be king for several minutes, weighing his options. Of _course_ he didn't want to die for Dean and Castiel's unholy whelp. The little beastie certainly wouldn't appreciate the favor. In fact, she'd probably kill him herself if her parents wanted it. However, given that the alternative was Dean learning just what sorts of powers he had control over...him becoming even more of an unstoppable adversary than he already was...

"Well...not _willing,_ exactly," Crowley said, spitting on the floor at Dean's feet, "but given that you're going to kill me anyway, I'm going to have to go with...yes. I will tell you nothing. You're just going to have to kill me."

Dean raised both eyebrows at this, a faint sneer starting to spread across his face as he traced the Blade along Crowley's jaw. "Wow. I gotta say, I'm almost impressed, Crowley. The former King of Hell willin' to die to protect somethin'...it's damn near heroic is what it is...'cept for the fact that it's gonna be for nothin'," he snapped as he took a nick out of Crowley's cheek. "I don't even need to torture you...much as I'd get off on that. See, I can just reach into your mind and _take_ what I want. So...best if you just bend over and _take it,_ bitch king," he hissed in his face as he pressed his free hand to the side of Crowley's head.

"Dean," the demon king tried to warn when he felt the burn of demonic power pressing at his thoughts, scrabbling to force its way inside. "Don't do this."

Dean laughed as his grip tightened. "What? No threats? No...you've got nothin' left. Y'know I-" he stopped mid-gloat, his eyes suddenly bulging and his hands dropping to his sides. For a moment, he seemed to struggle for breath, mouth twisting around words he couldn't speak. Crowley could feel the power drain out of him as surely as the color was draining from his face. Then he dropped to his knees, fingers briefly clawing at his chest before he passed out cold.

"Dean!" Charlie shouted, immediately releasing the King of Hell. The moment Crowley felt Dean's power over him loosen, he zapped out of the office, out of Hell and as far away from Dean Winchester as he could get.

XxX

Sam and Merry hadn't even been gone for an hour and Cas already found he was growing anxious. Lailah had taken Dorothy to one of the bunker's rooms to rest and Elaine had pulled out Sam and Dean's previous research on the Knights of Hell, looking to see if there was anything more to be learned from the Men of Letters' notes. The angel, meanwhile, wasn't left with much to do, so he wound up just pacing around the library. Finally, Elaine slammed her face down on the book she had open and groaned.

"Cas, would you please chill? You're making _me_ nervous. It'll be a couple days before they get back."

"My apologies, Elaine. It is beyond my control. I feel like I am doing nothing to help. Everyone is doing so much for me already...and all I can do is sit here," he said, barely stopping in his circling to get the words out.

Elaine just smiled wryly at the angel for several moments before flipping open another book and calling out to him. "Think you could help me translate these pages?"

Cas came to the table and looked over her shoulder at the writing. Then he raised an eyebrow when he looked down at her. "You are trying to distract me. I know you read Enochian very well."

"Hey, you said you wanted something to do. It's just one less thing I have to. Humor me."

For a moment, Cas found himself struck by the words...just the last two. It was so similar to the way Dean spoke them...but he ultimately managed to shake the thought off, focusing his attention on the page before him.

"Zir noco Iod Babalon. I am the servant of the Eternal God and the Wicked One," he began, but before he could get past the first line, his legs suddenly gave out and he was collapsing against the table.

"Cas!" Elaine shouted, in motion almost immediately. She helped him to the floor before he could collapse completely. "Cas, what's wrong?"

He tried to answer her, but found he couldn't make his mouth work. It was as if all the strength had suddenly been drained from his body. It was a struggle just to keep his eyes open...to _breathe,_ even.

_What...what's - happening...to me? Is it the child? No! I can't lose her! Please...don't take Dean's child away from me!_ he pleaded with whomever might listen as consciousness slipped through his fingers. All he could manage before passing out cold was a fearful glance up into Elaine's wide blue eyes.

Elaine was left holding the angel's comatose body in her arms. He'd gone completely slack and the color had drained from his face. The only indication he was even still alive was the faint rise and fall of his chest.

" _Lailah!_ " she shouted as loud as she could. At the sound of her cry, both Lailah and Dorothy came running.

"Oh," Lailah whispered, quickly coming to kneel beside them, taking stock of Castiel's vitals, both physical and angelic.

"He just...collapsed. I don't know what happened."

"His spiritual energy's been drained. If he'd been human, it would've killed him."

"Will he be all right?" Elaine pressed.

"I hope so. I couldn't say what caused it. The only guess I have is that either he or Dean was using too much power at once."

"And Cas wasn't using any power, so...it must have been something Dean was doing."

"Yes," Lailah said absently as she gently brushed a few strands of stray hair from Cas' face. "I couldn't say how long he will sleep like this. As long as it takes him to recover his strength. All we can really do is make sure he's resting comfortably."

"Should we tell Sam?"

"Not yet," Lailah answered after a moment of thought. "We'll see if Castiel's condition changes in the next few days."

"Well, apparently swooning's the thing to do these days," Crowley commented as he appeared in the library, quickly taking in what was happening.

"What are you talking about?" Elaine asked him.

"I just saw the exact same thing happen to Dean Winchester in Hell."

"I take it he was expending a great amount of power," Lailah said, observing the bloody condition of the demon king's meat suit.

"You could say that. So this is what happens when one or the other gets too deep into it?"

"Looks like," Elaine said.

"Well...that could certainly prove useful," Crowley commented, more to himself than to them.

"You've seen Dean?" Dorothy asked the King of Hell.

"Yes, I..." Crowley's voice slowly trailed off as he looked Dorothy up and down. "Oh, yes. You're the one who was with the redhead."

"Where is she?" Dorothy demanded quietly.

"Probably still in Hell with Squirrel...and she absolutely belongs there now."

"Don't say that!" Dorothy snarled as she leapt to her feet. "Don't you _dare_ say that!"

"Ah," the demon murmured as he observed the reaction. "You'll be the one she made her deal for, then. Word of advice...it would hurt less to forget about her."

"Crowley-" Elaine started.

"I didn't say that she _should_...only that it would hurt less," he clarified. "This will only get worse before it gets better."

"We should probably get Castiel to his bed," Lailah said, making an executive decision to shut the demon king out. With little effort, she lifted the younger angel's unconscious form into her arms and carried him out of the library, straight to the room he'd claimed for himself. Being gentle, she laid him out on his bed, resting his head on the pillows and covering him with a blanket.

"Castiel," she began softly, "I know this will be extremely difficult for you to bear...and it will be difficult for me to watch you suffer...but I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to make your wish come true. I won't fail again," she promised him, leaning over to press a single gentle kiss to the sleeping angel's forehead.

"Ima..." he called out quietly in his sleep as his hands began to curl into fists. Kneeling beside the bed, Lailah reached to take one of his hands in hers. "Dean..."

The grip wasn't strong...not really...but it was desperate...the grip of someone desperately struggling to hold on.

"I'm here," she soothed, prepared to ride out whatever nightmare was happening behind Castiel's eyelids. "Ima's right here."

"Dean... _Dean!_ Please..."

XxX

_At first, Cas doesn't know where he is, but as the scene before him becomes clearer, that starts to matter less and less._

_He sees Dean lying on a bed, either asleep or unconscious. As he watches, a slash wound suddenly appears in his stomach. Still Dean doesn't move._

_"Dean!" he shouts, trying to run to him, but something stops him. No matter how hard he fights, he can't get any closer. All he can do is watch Dean bleed out._

_"Dean,_ _**please!** _ _" he screams, pounding a fist against the invisible barrier that separates them. "You've got to wake up!"_

_Briefly, Dean twitches, groaning in his sleep._

_"Cas?" he calls out, hands curling into fists. "Cas!"_

_"_ _**Dean!** _ _"_

_"Cas...help me!" he cries out, the sound of it cutting the angel to the heart_. _"_ _ **Save me!**_ _"_

_"You can never save him," another voice hisses in his ear. "No matter what you do, no matter how much you love him, you will never be able to save the Righteous Man. They will take him from you, over and over again, and they will take your child. You can do nothing but watch him_ _**burn!** _ _"_

_As the voice continues to taunt him, Dean's bleeding only grows worse. He's screaming now...and Castiel cannot bear it. He feels he will go mad with the sound of it lancing through his soul. Clutching at his ears in desperation, he bashes his head against the invisible barrier, screaming right along with him._

_"_ _**NOOOO!** _ _"_

XxX

Because they had begun their drive so late at night, Sam and Merry had decided to take five hour shifts at the wheel of Elaine's Jeep Wrangler. It would take about twenty hours to reach Virginia and the popular theory was that dividing up the shifts like that would allow both of them a chance to sleep. That, of course, was only a theory, as Sam hadn't slept a wink during Merry's first shift and she wasn't sleeping now that he was behind the wheel. Were it not for the radio, it would have been them just driving in uncomfortable silence.

"So...what's this thing with Elaine and Crowley?" Sam finally asked, deciding that if neither of them was going to sleep, they may as well get some things figured out.

"I'm not really sure. We've...bumped heads a few times. He keeps dropping hints to her about making some kind of deal, but he's never told her why...so far as I know, anyway. Sometimes I think he's just got a thing for Elaine because she has a demon mark, but...I don't know," the younger twin said, turning to look out the window. The sky was only just beginning to threaten to lighten.

"He doesn't usually allow people the same leeway he gives her. Something's going on there."

"I know, I know. I just don't know what to do about it. Sometimes I feel like...she doesn't _want_ me to help her...like...she wishes I _hadn't_...back then. I'm afraid that's the kind of hold Crowley has over her," she said, leaning her head despondently against the window.

Sam shivered at her words. He could definitely understand what _that_ was like, having to deal with a sibling who didn't _want_ to be saved. "We're going to have to be careful of that, then. Whatever Crowley's deal is, Dean will definitely try to use that against her...make her one of his. I know none of us want to see that happen."

"No," Merry said quietly, still not looking at him.

"Though...on the subject of Dean...how did you know the gospel wouldn't kill him?" Sam asked her, trying to ease into the conversation, as he wasn't sure of what the answer might be. Sure enough, he felt Merry stiffen in the passenger seat.

"I _didn't,_ " she answered sharply. "I shot to kill. Cas was the one who knew it wouldn't kill him."

" _What?_ " he demanded. "Merry, he...what if you _had_ killed him?"

"Not ashamed to say I _wanted_ Dean Winchester dead just then. If it weren't for Cas, I'd be in a wheelchair now. Dean did that."

"Merry, it wasn't his fault!" Sam tried to argue. "What would you do if I tried to kill Elaine?"

"This is a slightly different situation."

"How?"

"It wasn't...just torture. That demon...did things..."

"What things?"

"God dammit, how do you _want_ me to say it? Do I have to spell it out?! He _raped_ me, Sam! Your brother fucking _raped me!_ " she screamed at him.

_Oh, God._

Sam had pulled off the highway before he was really aware of doing so. For a moment, the two of them just sat in silence, not looking at each other.

"I...I'm sorry," he said quietly, knowing that an apology didn't even begin to cover what Merry had probably been through. Normally, he would have rested a hand on her shoulder, but he wasn't sure how she would react to him touching her, so he left it alone.

"I'm not gonna say it's okay. It's not, but...what else can we do? It's the job. Sometimes people die...and sometimes things happen that can never unhappen," she said, finally looking over at him.

"Merry, you...you really ought to _talk_ to someone about this."

"Why? Elaine was there. She saw what happened."

"That's not really what I mean."

"What? You mean go find a shrink? See a rape councilor? Yeah, that'll go over well. Hi, my name is Meredith Serra and I was conceived through a crossroads deal. My parents were eaten by demons and I was raped by an old friend who was demonically possessed at the time. Thank you for the straitjacket," she parroted, giving the sign for 'screw loose' before banging her head against the dashboard. "It just doesn't work that way for people like us. We're all in desperate need of a heaping helping of psycho therapy."

"Not gonna contest you on that one, but...hell, it doesn't even have to be a professional. You just...you can't keep something like that in," he insisted.

"Oh, yeah, because you have so much experience with rape," she snapped.

"I have experience with _trauma_. It's not all that different. What did you and Elaine do on the drive to Lebanon? Just sit and not talk?"

"Basically. I was angry at her for trying to make the deal to save me and she saw me tortured and raped. What did we have to talk about?"

"Did you really just ask me that? 'Cuz I can't even _begin_ to tell you how screwed up that sounds. You didn't even-"

"Okay, okay, okay," she interrupted, throwing her hands up and kicking her feet up onto the dash. "If I promise to talk to someone, can we please get back to work? I'm really starting to worry about Hunter. I can deal later, but she might need our help right now. We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

Sam stared at the younger hunter for several moments before finally sighing and nodding. "Yeah," he said, shifting the car back into gear and getting back on the road. After a time, Merry actually managed to fall asleep and Sam found he couldn't keep himself from looking over at her from time to time. It wasn't a peaceful sleep and Sam knew this was probably the only time he'd be able to see past the facade she was keeping up. Even in sleep, her face was knotted with worry and she held herself curled up, as if she couldn't relax. Had he really let himself be taken in by her playful attitude before? He should damn well recognize that sort of thing by now.

_Damn you, Dean,_ the thought repeated itself in his head over and over again, eating him up with anger and guilt. _And damn_ _ **me,**_ _too._

XxX

The sun was setting when Sam pulled up to the dilapidated farmhouse Merry had directed him to. The coming darkness did nothing to disguise the fact that the building was falling apart. In fact, it probably made it look even worse.

"So...how does the woman who's about to become the biggest name in demon-killing bullets wind up in a place like this?" Sam asked as he surveyed the old house.

"This is the old Falconer farmhouse. Hunter's mom couldn't live here after what happened, but after her parents died, it became Hunter's sanctuary."

"Oh," Sam said quietly. He knew the story of Lily Falconer, of course. Young Lily had brought her boyfriend, Joseph Silver, home from senior prom. What the two of them had seen that night had changed them forever. A wendigo had attacked Lily's parents and the two teens had interrupted it. Through sheer dumb luck, the young couple had managed to kill the creature and the rest had been history...except for the part about them having a daughter. That one he hadn't known...though it might certainly explain how one of the most legendary husband and wife duos had gotten themselves killed.

"She knows we're coming, yeah?" he asked Merry as the younger hunter hopped out of the Jeep.

"Yeah, I called her before we took off. She's more of a day sleeper anyway. She'll be ready to party...y'know, assuming demons didn't get here first," she said, sounding a little nervous as she hurried up to the door, quickly throwing it open.

"Aren't you even going to knock?" Sam asked, drawing his gun as he followed her into the house.

"No need. She doesn't really live in the farmhouse. It's just a front," Merry explained as she led him to a set of stairs that led down to a basement level. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a solid iron door. Merry began to rap on it the moment she reached it. "Hey, Hunt! You in? You'd better be in!"

"It's open!" a woman's voice called over some sort of intercom. Grinning, Merry pushed the door open and hurried inside.

When Sam thought of workshops, he thought more of Bobby's old place: piles of everything under the sun lying everywhere, necessary things somehow materializing out of the murk when they were needed. He was used to squalor, basically. Hunter's workshop had more the look of a lab: cabinets everywhere, materials all perfectly organized, and boxes of what he assumed was ammo stacked and ready.

Hunter herself was sitting at a table in the middle of it all, stripping down a rifle. She was older than the twins, probably nearer to his age. She was on the unhealthy side of slender, like she hadn't been eating well for a few months. Her skin was pale and her straight black hair fell to just past her shoulder blades. Mostly it was loose, but she had some of it pulled into a braid on the right side of her head. Sam vaguely noted all of these things, but they weren't really what drew his gaze to the woman. It was the fact that she was dressed in nothing but a pair of short jean shorts and a black bra.

"Hey, Hunt!" Merry said cheerfully as she came up behind Hunter, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her from behind. "Long time no see."

"Hey, Mer," she said, not taking her eyes off her work.

"You didn't even touch the protein bars Elaine left for you, did you," the younger hunter accused.

"Maybe one or two," the gunsmith said offhandedly.

"Come on, Hunt. We talked about this last time. This isn't healthy."

Hunter actually laughed at this. "Oh, hon, if we were healthy, there'd be none of us doing this job. I did get a couple pizzas if the two of you want to eat, though," she said, nodding her head in the direction of a counter where several boxes of pizza were stacked.

"And will our host be joining us?" Merry pressed.

"Depends."

"Depends on what?" Sam found himself asking, just barely managing to pick his jaw up off the floor before Hunter turned to look at him.

"On whether or not I get my work done."

"What are you working on?" he asked, finding himself drawn by the intensity of her green eyes.

"A winchester," she answered before snapping the barrel off the rifle without even looking at it. Sam couldn't quite help wincing as the gun came apart in her hands. "It's the very last gun that needs cleaning. Though...it seems I have another Winchester to deal with tonight."

"Yes," Sam squeaked, taking a second to clear his throat before starting again. "Yes. Elaine and Merry said you've been working on a new bullet."

"Mm, yes. The gospel. Merry tells me it would have worked were it not for the fact that your brother is...what was it? A Knight of Hell?"

"Yes, but the twins are pretty sure it will be able to kill anything else. Why is that? How does this bullet work, exactly?" Sam pressed, trying very hard not to stare at the gunsmith.

"You think it's that easy, Sam Winchester? Think I'm just gonna _give you_ the secret to blowing away angels and demons? Just like that?" she asked, starting the process of cleaning the rifle while still not looking at it.

"Maybe you don't quite get the situation we're all about to be in, but-"

"Oh, God, Winchester, calm down. I'm just kidding," she said with a chuckle, finally turning her attention to what she was actually working on. "I know who you are. I know you're not going to use my life's work for the wrong reasons. Merry told me everything about what's been happening. Almost seems like it's destiny, me finally perfecting the gospel now...with everything that's about to go down."

"Yeah, sure," Sam said. "Honestly never put much stock in destiny. My first question stands, though. How does the gospel work?"

"Come on, Sam. Stay a while, have a slice of pizza. We'll talk," she said, now completely focused on the pieces of rifle in her hands.

"Just go with it," Merry called over her shoulder as she approached the pizza boxes. "She'll talk when she wants to."

Several minutes later, Sam and Merry were sitting on a couch at the far end of the workshop, in an area that looked a little more lived in than the workshop itself. Merry had already gone through six slices of pizza and Sam was nibbling on his first without much interest, thinking on this very strange gunsmith.

"Are you sure you told her we were coming?" he asked Merry.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know, it's just...most people tend to put clothes on when they've got guests coming," he said, risking another glance back into the work area.

Merry giggled quietly as she watched him. "Oh, Sam, Sam, Sam. Bit distracting is she?"

Sam turned back to glare at Merry. "No. Not like that. It just...threw me, is all."

"Honestly...what you see there probably _is_ what she did to get ready. I'm pretty sure it's normal for her to just work in the nude."

" _What?_ " Sam asked, barely managing to keep his voice from squeaking again as his gaze shot back to Hunter. He mentally smacked himself in an effort to keep his thoughts from going there.

"She has this thing about cloth. Most fabrics are too rough for her to wear, so more often than not, she just goes with nothing. Hell, she'd walk around naked if they wouldn't arrest her for it."

"Well, isn't that just...interesting," the younger Winchester said, shoving nearly half the slice into his mouth in an effort to keep his jaw from going slack.

"Wanna see something even more interesting?" Hunter's voice suddenly broke into the conversation. Sam nearly choked on the pizza when he looked up to see her standing just at the entrance to the living area.

"Sure," he said, voice only going slightly high-pitched this time. "What have you got?"

"This," she announced, holding up a cartridge and moving toward them. After handing the round to Sam, she sat down on the floor in front of them.

"The gospel," Sam said softly, looking the round over to see how it compared to other bullets. The cartridge itself appeared to be standard enough, but the bullet itself...that was the interesting part. He couldn't make out the words inscribed into the bullet; they were much too small, but he imagined it was the incantation the twins had been talking about before.

"Fer pacem agnis perditis. Dona requiem dentibus lupi et voca malleum mortis Diabolo te iubeo," Hunter said quietly. "Bring peace to the lost lambs. I bid thee give rest to the fangs of the wolf and call the hammer of death unto the Devil. It's part of the spell that comprises the gospel."

"I know it isn't just a spell that makes this thing tick. What all else is going on here?"

"Well...as you know, the purpose of making bullets out of lead is density. It causes deeper penetration into the target, but of course that isn't important in the type of targets we go after. The necessary part is the materials themselves. Those rounds are composed of a mix of silver and melted down angel blade. They're also hollow point bullets, which allows them to be packed with holy oil and a certain spell."

"What spell?"

"Once the bullet penetrates, the spell causes the slug to melt and the holy oil to ignite, thus allowing the mix to spread throughout the target, killing it. Save for Knights of Hell, and maybe archangels, I feel confident there is _nothing_ these rounds cannot kill," Hunter said as she took the bullet back from Sam.

"Yeah...that definitely sounds workable," Sam said as he considered the science of it. This might just be the solution to their problem. "So you said Merry told you about what's going on?"

Hunter nodded. "She did. All I can say is _finally._ "

"Finally what?"

"You really think the whole damn world didn't already know about your brother and his angel? Sometimes it seems like the only ones who didn't know were the two of them. It's just a little depressing that their unresolved sexual tension had to explode in such a big way. So...I gather you'd like me to supply you with rounds to fight this coming war with?" she asked, turning her head sideways as she looked up at him, the braid slipping sinuously over her shoulder. Sam swallowed before nodding.

"Yes, but it's more than that. We'd like you to move shop, transfer all your materials to Lebanon, Kansas. It'll be much safer for you there," he advised her.

Hunter grinned as she swung her head around, indicating the space around them. "I don't know if you've noticed yet, Sam, but I do have a bunker of my own. This old farmhouse is a fortress. I'll be safe here."

"Not against _these_ enemies, you won't be. I'm pretty sure this place could fend off anything else under the sun, but you've never faced a Knight of Hell before. It's trouble you've never known. It would be better to join forces with us."

"So this is something like...consolidating your forces?" Hunter asked him.

"Something like that, yeah. It's better if we all stick together. Plus, we're worried that if Dean finds out about you, you might be his next target. He could turn you into a Knight if he found the right leverage."

Hunter shook her head at this. "No. I don't think he'd be able to pull that off."

"And why is that? He's already done it once."

Again, she shook her head. "No. There's really...no one left that I love. What's he going to do? Kill me? It's not anything I don't deserve," she said as she got to her feet.

"Hey, Hunt, no. Don't say that," Merry protested as she hopped up from the couch and moved to the gunsmith. "Don't throw away what the others gave you. Just...just come back with us."

Hunter stood facing away from them for several minutes before ultimately sighing and nodding. "It'll take me a few days to get everything packed up and properly inventoried."

"That's fine. We'll take guard duty and let you get your work done," Sam offered.

"Sounds like a plan. I take it nobody minds eating pizza until then?"

"Hell, no. I love me some pie!" Merry cheered before going to drag Sam off of the couch. "Come on, Sam. I'll show you where the bunks are."

As Merry dragged him past Hunter, Sam couldn't help glancing back at the gunsmith. She looked back at him with a faint smile on her lips. When Merry led him through another door and out of sight, he couldn't quite help thinking that Hunter probably wasn't going to have any of that pizza.

XxX

The cabin was silent and dark when the angel approached it. It wouldn't have been obvious to any human who came near, but the celestial being could easily sense the energies that flowed through this place. When he walked inside the cabin, the energies only became stronger.

A Seraphim class reaction had been registered in Heaven not two days before and despite the chaos the heavenly plains were in, they knew they couldn't ignore such a massive reaction, so this angel had been sent to investigate.

The remaining traces of energy in the building were so intense, the angel was almost surprised he was able to go on standing. As he followed the lingering lines of power, he was able to get a faint picture of what had occurred, tracing the events through until he reached the cause of the reaction.

Castiel.

At first, all he could see was the reaction itself, the remnants of it were so intense, but as he looked deeper, he began to see something more...something dark and dangerous contained within Castiel's living flame. He couldn't identify it, but he knew it was something horrifying just the same.

_This is Matarael,_ he reported back to his superior. _We've had a confirmed Seraphim class reaction in Keystone, Colorado, but it isn't that we need to be worrying on. Something has happened to Castiel. I do not yet know what. His trace ends here, but Hannah's goes on. I request permission to pursue her in the course of answers to this riddle._

_Permission granted, Matarael. Seek Hannah out and bring her to us._

Matarael nodded as he exited the cabin, running a hand through his vessel's long brown hair. He didn't know what was happening here, but he feared it was something very dangerous...much more dangerous than anything Heaven had ever faced before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else tired of these supernatural weapons not being explained? They just kinda show up and they're exactly what you need? Thought I'd try my hand at deconstructing one.


	7. Bring Peace to the Lost Lambs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "I don't know what he did, but...when Charlie opened her eyes again, they were black."...
> 
> "Wow. I gotta say, I'm almost impressed, Crowley. The former King of Hell willin' to die to protect somethin'...it's damn near heroic is what it is...'cept for the fact that it's gonna be for nothin'," Dean snapped...
> 
> "Castiel, I know this will be extremely difficult for you to bear...and it will be difficult for me to watch you suffer...but I swear to you, I will do everything in my power to make your wish come true. I won't fail again," Lailah promised, leaning over to press a single gentle kiss to the sleeping angel's forehead...
> 
> "You can never save him. No matter what you do, no matter how much you love him, you will never be able to save the Righteous Man. They will take him from you, over and over again, and they will take your child. You can do nothing but watch him burn!"...
> 
> "Once the bullet penetrates, the spell causes the slug to melt and the holy oil to ignite, thus allowing the mix to spread throughout the target, killing it. Save for Knights of Hell, I feel confident there is nothing these rounds cannot kill," Hunter said...

Cas had been out for about twenty-four hours now. Lailah hadn't reported any change whenever Elaine checked up on them and the elder angel hadn't left her stricken charge's side. She just sat with him, holding his hand, doing what she could to soothe him when his nightmares got bad. Dorothy seemed to have been asleep for just about that long, most likely in shock...and if she'd been through anything like what Elaine and Merry had been through with Dean, Elaine certainly didn't blame her. As there didn't seem to be anymore information she could glean from the archives, Elaine's only real task at the moment was to keep an eye on Crowley...and seeing as how he wasn't making trouble for once, what was there left to do but make brownies?

Cooking was a skill Elaine had picked up during her time in the foster system. It helped her feel closer to her mother and it helped her feed her chocolate addiction. After all, what was life without chocolate? And of course, the Winchesters didn't keep near enough of it stocked. It wouldn't take her long to eat through the stash Sam had supplied her with, so she'd just have to make more.

"Need someone to lick the spoon, lovely Elaine?" she heard Crowley asking just as she was placing the pan in the oven.

"Already done that, thank you," she snipped without even turning to look at him.

"You know, you haven't asked me in a while," the demon king pointed out as he ventured further into the kitchen.

"No, I haven't," she said as she flurried around the kitchen, cleaning up after herself. "I haven't asked because I know you won't answer. Why should I worry about why you seem to favor me when I know you aren't going to explain it to me?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"Well, maybe times have changed. Perhaps I'm feeling a bit more amenable to explaining myself. Maybe I simply...need you to know at this point," he suggested, pulling up a chair and sitting as he watched her continued bustling. Her movements stilled for only a moment before she launched herself back into the task with vigor.

"So?"

"Oh, but I do love watching you, Elaine...pretending not to care, pretending what I have to tell you hasn't haunted your steps for eight years now."

"If you've got something to say, say it!" she snapped at him. "I'm not here to shoot the shit."

"Right...of course. You've always wondered what sort of deal I want from you and now we've got this squirrelly upstart barking up your tree, so I think it's time we understood each other. Let me just lay it right out and say that you're not like other people."

Finally turning to look at the King of Hell, Elaine faced him with her eyebrows knit together in wary confusion. After a moment of scrutiny, she snapped back with, "Well...isn't that just...special. What are you trying to do? Flirt with me? Completely not interested."

"No, no, of course not. I know _exactly_ where your tastes run, lovely Elaine. _Exactly,_ " he repeated, looking at her as if he knew something he shouldn't and the young hunter couldn't help but turn away in disgust. "What I'm trying to say is that you're a whole different breed from these other apes. You and your sister were something entirely new for the crossroads."

"That's such a load of bull. Our mom can't honestly be the only woman who's ever made a deal to get pregnant."

"No, it isn't that. The difference is that when a deal is made, these women normally trade their souls. They have their allotted time with the children they conceive, then the hell hounds come for them, but you and your sister were different. It was an ambitious new deal. Yours was the first soul born for the sole purpose of coming to Hell. You were _born_ to be one of us, Elaine," Crowley told her, keeping his eyes locked on hers as he rose from his chair.

"You...I don't believe you. You're _lying!_ " she snarled at him, even though she found herself backing away from him.

"If you don't believe me, why are you so _scared?_ " he taunted as he followed her retreat, backing her up against the oven. "Don't like that I'm giving voice to what you've feared all along? That this is what you are? That you're like _me?_ " he hissed, getting right up in her face. Elaine squeezed her eyes shut as she turned away from him.

"How would you know anything about my mom's deal?"

"How would I know?" he repeated with a dark chuckle as he drew her face up by the chin, forcing her to look at him. "Who do you think _made_ the deal in the first place?"

For what felt like hours, Elaine just stared at the demon in shock and horror, her mind awash in memories from that night eight years ago.

 _"_ _**Elaine!** _ _"_

_"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus-"_

_"No! Please! You can't take her! I'll do anything!"_

_"One soul is not equal to another, Rae. I have a lot vested in this deal. It will take more than just_ _**your** _ _soul to break it."_

"You," she whispered in abject horror as he slowly dropped to one knee before her. "It was _you._ You were there."

"Yes," he said as he reached a hand forward, fingers wrapping around her right ankle. She could feel his skin burn against the talon-like scars he'd marked her with on the night of her fourteenth birthday. "Elaine Serra...the scars you bear belong to me."

"You're the one!" Elaine was suddenly screaming, lashing out blindly with two daggers she'd produced from two hidden sheathes. She felt an ugly satisfaction when she felt the blades pierce flesh. " _You're the one!_ My parents! Mom! Dad! I'll make you pay! _I'll make you pay!_ " she shrieked. She didn't really become aware of anything but her rage until a strong pair of hands closed around her wrists.

"Stop, Elaine! S _top!_ " she vaguely heard Lailah's voice in her ear. "We can't be fighting like this right now."

As the red slowly started to clear from her vision, she started to realize that a portion of the world really _was_ red. She'd bloodied up the King of Hell pretty thoroughly...but as he stood sneering at her, held back by Dorothy, she realized she hadn't hurt him...not really. She'd need her gun for that.

"How did that feel? Good?" he asked, his sneer only growing wider. "You won't kill me. I've told you all along that you're one of mine. This is why. Only _I_ can give you what you need. You wouldn't _exist_ without me. Forgive me for using the most worn cliche in human history, but...in a very real sense...I _am_ your father."

"No," Elaine whispered, feeling Lailah's grip loosen as she fell to her knees, her whole body beginning to tremble.

"Crowley, we're _trying_ to keep a truce here. You have _no right_ to hold this over her head," Lailah snapped at him.

"Nobody has more right to this girl than I do. Oh, but I had grand plans for you, lovely Elaine. I would have made you a princess, but of course Moose and Squirrel just had to stick their people saving, thing hunting noses where they didn't belong. Those plans can become a reality any time you want, though. That offer stands firm. You remember that next time His Royal Bushy Tailness comes knocking," he told her before strolling out of the kitchen whistling the Imperial March.

"Elaine," Lailah began gently as she moved to enfold the young hunter in a warm embrace. "What he said doesn't matter. You know that, don't you, child? How you were born doesn't matter. Only _you_ decide who you are."

Lailah was saying more, but Elaine wasn't really hearing her. All she could manage to do was lean into the embrace...the embrace of a mother...a mother she'd let die eight years ago.

 _It's true. I really_ _**am** _ _a...a_ _**devil girl.** _

XxX

When Sam woke the next morning, it was to the scent of some very strong coffee brewing somewhere nearby. When he sat up in his cot, he saw Merry snoozing fitfully in another cot a few feet away. Deciding it would be better to let her get as much sleep as she possibly could, Sam went off in search of the coffee on his own.

The scent led him back to Hunter's workshop. He couldn't say whether she was still up or up already, but the dark circles under her eyes more suggested she was _still_ up.

"I know Merry's a late riser, but I wasn't sure about you, so I went ahead and got the java going," she said without looking at him, working to get a set of sample casings packed in a box.

"Thank you," he said, taking a moment to eye her worriedly before heading into the living area, where the coffee maker was running. "How do you take it?" he asked as he grabbed two mugs from beside the machine, one with a chip in the rim and a kitten playing with a ball of yarn on the side and one with the word Wicked printed around the side.

"About half cream," she muttered absently, still not looking up.

Sam felt sadly confident that the gunsmith wouldn't drink the coffee even if he made it for her, but he was going to try just the same. He mixed the drink up to her specifications, poured himself a cup, deciding to be gracious and taking the one that was chipped, and carried the two coffees back into the workshop. Hunter was scuttling about the space, packing things in boxes and making notes on a clipboard.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" he asked her, setting her coffee down beside the stack of half-empty pizza boxes.

"I don't sleep much. A little twenty minute catnap at the work table usually does it for me," she said.

"Don't eat, don't sleep. A little unhealthy, isn't it?" he asked. Somehow he didn't think she'd noticed whether or not he'd failed to sound casual.

"I'm still breathing, aren't I? More than a lot of hunters can say. I'm sure Merry's gotten around to mentioning my thing with fabric. That extends to bedding. The less time spent with cloth pressing against my skin, the better. Oh, you picked the kitty mug! That's adorable!" she squealed when she finally turned to look at him. The sudden squeak caused Sam to jump, though, in turn causing him to knock the Wicked mug over, sending hot, milky coffee spilling all over the counter.

"Ah, shit!" he groaned, setting his own mug down on a dry surface. "Do you have a rag anywhere?"

"Right here!" she declared, suddenly popping up from behind a stack of boxes and coming to mop up the liquidy mess. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. We'll be out of here in a few days. Stercus accidit."

Sam thought about the phrase a moment before looking down at the woman. "Did you just say 'shit happens' in Latin?" he asked.

"Why yes. Yes, I did," she said, grinning up at him. "Call it a personal motto."

 _Okay, that's hot,_ Sam couldn't quite help thinking as he watched her move to toss the dirty rag on top of a pile of growing crap. When he caught himself staring at her in a way he probably shouldn't have been, he quickly tore his eyes away.

"Unfortunately, the only food I have at the moment is the cold pizza, but you can absolutely help yourself if it doesn't bother you."

"Cold pizza, the breakfast of champions," Sam said with a grin.

"Ain't it the truth," she returned, but before she could get back to her work, Sam grabbed her arm as she was walking past.

"Hunter, you're scaring me. I can see your ribs," he told her, locking his eyes onto hers and not letting go. "Please eat something."

"Don't worry," she said, trying to shrug him off. "I'll eat when I'm hungry."

"No, you won't. You're not gonna pull one over on me with that workaholic crap. You think I don't know survivor's guilt when I see it? You're starving yourself, Hunter. I'm guessing you probably haven't eaten for days, maybe even weeks. The only reason you're keeping yourself alive is so you can finish the gospel. So...what happens when it's perfected to your satisfaction? You're just done? You gonna skip out on us?" he demanded.

Hunter sighed as she turned away, not looking at him as she spoke. "People die around me, Sam Winchester. My parents, their friends, my friends...I should think you'd understand that better than anybody. This time...this time I really thought...maybe... _no!_ " she cut herself off, wrenching her arm free of his grip. "They died, too. Just like everyone else. What makes you think you and your team are any different?"

"We are," Sam said with total certainty. "Honestly, I'd be impressed if whatever bad mojo you've got going could kill us. We're your best bet at this point."

"Yeah? Well, maybe I'm not willin' to take that chance with humanity's only defense against The Powers That Be. I only have one purpose on this God forsaken planet and that's to make sure the gospel is perfect. Once that's done and you guys have your weapon, there's no reason for me to be here anymore," she insisted, her voice dropping into a slight southern twang as her shoulders tensed with anger.

"Stop it!" Sam snapped at her. "You stop all that bullshit _right now!_ I bust my ass trying to keep people alive and here you are just throwing your life away. I can't just sit around and watch somebody else die!"

Slowly, Hunter turned to look at him again, the smile on her face infinitely sad. "I appreciate the thought, Sam...but you don't know me. Why should it matter to you if I live or die?"

"It doesn't matter if I don't know you. Maybe I want to. Maybe nobody deserves to die alone. That's what you're gunning for here. If you still want to die when all this is over, I'll kill you myself, but right now, we need you. You can die later," he said, the last a low growl deep in his chest. He wasn't completely sure why all this made him so angry. After all, Hunter was right. He _didn't_ know her, not really. Maybe after seeing so many people go down fighting, he couldn't stand to see someone just give up. Whatever the case might have been, he was not going to let this woman die.

Hunter laughed quietly at this. "I'll hold you to that, Winchester," she said before attempting to get back to work.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sam asked her.

"Back to inventorying."

"Not yet, you're not. Going on living requires taking steps to actually make that happen. You need to _eat something,_ " he pressed, opening up one of the pizza boxes and grabbing a slice of cold meat lovers pizza, holding it out to her insistently.

Hunter eyed the slice of pizza warily for several moments before moving back toward Sam, slowly taking the cold food in her hands. For several minutes more, she just stared at the pizza, letting the grease stain her fingers before finally biting into it. Tasting, chewing, and swallowing was also a very involved process. Once the gunsmith had finished eating the slice, she shrugged, not quite looking at him.

"It's good," she mumbled absently.

"Good," Sam said, nodding in relief. It wasn't much, but it was something.

XxX

Olivia and Kaoru were both relieved to receive instruction from Crowley after hearing of what had gone down in Hell. For a few days, no one had quite known what had happened to the king, but he managed to get them instruction to hold their current position, which was why they found themselves sitting in a car outside a motel in Phoenix, Arizona, spying on the angel who was currently in residence.

"Think this angel bitch even _can_ solve these riddles?" Kaoru wondered out loud as he kicked his feet up on the dash. Having his own particular preference, he'd taken a meat suit of Japanese ancestry - a young man with a propensity for pyrotechnics.

"Couldn't say. Not really our place to wonder about it, though. All we really need to do is keep track of her, step in incase anything gets in the way. Mostly I'm just pissed at these winged bastards' presumption," Olivia said, eyeing Hannah somewhat angrily through the window of her motel room. She had no preference in suits herself, but Crowley'd had specific requirements for the one she took: tall and skinny with blue eyes and short, dyed black hair. With the wardrobe of cowboy boots, a short black skirt, a fiery orange top, and a mini leather jacket, it all added up to a look that very greatly resembled her when she'd been human... _before_ she'd gone to Hell.

"Well...technically they aren't _winged_ bastards anymore. They've all lost their wings," Kaoru pointed out with no small sense of satisfaction.

"And it's no more than they deserve. Good for those goody-goods to see how everyone else does it for a change."

"Didn't know you had such a major beef with angels."

"I didn't...not until recently, anyway."

Kaoru might have asked her more at that one, except that was the moment she sat up straight in the driver's seat.

"Oh, no more time for chit-chat. Looks like it's time to go play hero."

XxX

Hannah couldn't imagine where the thought came from, but she suddenly found herself feeling very sympathetic toward the Winchesters. In the middle of working a case, it must surely be hideously annoying to have to stop for things like eating and sleeping. Even though she didn't need to do these things herself, granting her infinitely more time and focus to dedicate to her work, she still wasn't much closer to solving Metatron's riddles.

She had the fairy dust, much to her own self-loathing, and she knew what the first, fourth, and sixth items were, but the final three were still a mystery to her. Even when she did have them all figured out, she would still need a method to obtain each item. The gun was proving difficult to obtain and the sixth item would also have its difficulties. At the moment, the fourth item seemed like the most sensible to pursue, but it would require a confrontation with Dean Winchester. Would it be best to pursue the item...or to figure out the remaining riddles first?

"Hannah?" a voice suddenly called out to her. She started, looking up to see Matarael standing in her doorway. She'd been so fixated on her research, she hadn't even noticed the approach of his energy.

"Matarael...what are you doing here?"

"You haven't reported in for many weeks. We know you were present at Keystone when the reaction occurred. What happened?"

"I have the situation well in hand. Heaven does not need to intervene," she insisted as she turned away from him, trying to be casual, trying not to show how afraid she was. If Matarael discovered Castiel's secret...

"You are lying," the hulking angel declared firmly, moving further into the room. "What? Happened?" he repeated slowly, grey eyes fixed unerringly on hers.

"I told you, I'm handling it."

"Even as it is now, I hope you don't believe Heaven is blind, Hannah. Something has happened, and once again, it seems to center on Castiel. There is something dark inside of him. Whatever it is, I fear it may destroy us all."

"I know," Hannah said quietly. "Castiel is in grave danger, but the course I am set upon may be able to save him."

"Hannah, _please._ Tell me what has happened. We all work toward the same goal. Let us help you," Matarael pressed, drawing all the closer to her. Hannah moved back until she could go no further, coming up against the back wall of the room.

"Perhaps we _do_ work toward the same goal, but I cannot take the risk that you might resolve this matter in a drastic way. I will only ask that you allow me to handle it."

"I have asked you already to divulge what you know. Do you defy the will of Heaven?"

"I defy nothing, Matarael, for there is nothing to defy. Heaven is in disarray. Allow me to carry out this mission in the name of what Heaven is _meant_ to stand for," she pleaded with him.

"I have already asked for your compliance. If you will not give it, you leave me no choice but to take you by force. Whatever is happening here, I cannot allow this darkness to spread unchecked. You _will_ return with me to Heaven. I will _make_ you," he said, calling his angel blade to his hand. Hannah had called down her own blade when a new voice suddenly joined the struggle.

"Oi! Featherhead!" The two angels looked up to see two demons standing in the doorway. The woman was the one who had spoken. "If you want Missy Angel, you're gonna have to go through us," she declared, an angel blade of her own in hand.

Matarael quickly moved to engage the female demon in battle, but as they fought, the man moved in toward Hannah. When she looked at him, she could see a vial of blood clutched in his fist. Immediately, he began to use the blood to draw a sigil on the wall next to her.

"What are you-"

"Give me your hand," the demon snapped, taking her hand without waiting for consent and slamming her palm against the sigil. In a flash of white light, Matarael was gone.

"Wow," the female demon said with a sigh as she wiped blood from a cut on her forehead. "Even after all the time spent on the run down here, you don't have the sense to even _try_ to hide from your fellow angels? You aren't going to get very far at this rate."

"Why would you help me?" Hannah finally got herself to ask, still holding her blade at the ready. "Why not banish me, too?"

"We didn't want you banished. After all, all your research is here."

"But why would you _care?_ If Crowley sent you, you can go right back and tell him he'll get none of the items from me. I'll still want that gun of his."

"Oh? The way you said that...does that mean you've got some of the items already?" the male demon asked with interest.

"That's none of your affair, demon," she snapped at him, though she was certain her frustration at having given even that much away spoke the truth louder than anything she could say.

"No, that's pretty much what our affair is right now...keeping track of you...seeing nothing gets in your way," the woman explained.

"You mean...the King of Hell _wants_ to see this ritual happen?"

"The King of Hell wants to keep his options open just now. Really, we'll just have to wait and see. Don't think you can hide from us, either. We'll be watching. Kaoru and I were chosen very specifically for this assignment."

"Why? What's so special about you?"

The woman threw back her head and laughed at this before fixing the angel with a particularly cruel stare.

"Look inside, angel...into the mind of the woman you inhabit. You'll find that she knows me."

Hannah reached back into the memories of her vessel, easily finding a description that somewhat resembled the woman standing before her, but even that tiny flicker of recognition was enough to cause the woman to come awake within her.

"Olivia?" her mouth whispered without her permission.

Again, the demon laughed. "Yeah, Hannah, it's me. It's been a long time, hasn't it. Keep your eyes peeled. We'll be chatting again real soon...big sister," she said with a sneer. Then she and Kaoru were gone.

Even though she was in control once again, Hannah could still feel the reeling emotions of her vessel. Olivia shouldn't be here. She shouldn't be here because she was dead. She'd been killed two years ago...dragged away by Hell hounds. This was the reason Crowley had sent this particular demon against her. The revelation of what had become of her sister would break her vessel...tear her apart and unmake her from within. Even though the vessel's soul shouldn't have affected her at all, Hannah could already feel the horror building up inside of her, threatening to overtake her. How long could she reasonably hope to function with such awful anguish building up inside of her?

XxX

_Cas feels he's spent years trapped in the dark watching Dean die before his eyes. He's felt himself go insane with every drop of blood shed...but all of that comes to an end with a single mumbled word._

_"Cas?"_

_Shocked, the angel looks up to see Dean sitting up in bed, completely free of blood and injury. Immediately, he slams both hands against the invisible barrier that separates them._

_"Dean!" he cries out desperately._

_The Righteous Man slowly looks himself over, eyes roving over every inch of blessed, unmarred flesh before looking up at the angel with fear in his eyes._

_"Are you dead?" he asks, and it hurts Castiel to hear the pain in his voice._

_"No," he whispers, feeling tears prick at his eyes even as he struggles to comfort the hunter._

_"I...I think_ _**I** _ _am," he says quietly, smiling sadly at the angel._

 _"No. You_ _**can't** _ _be," Cas hisses, something inside him twisting in grief and agony as he remembers the moment Metatron told him of Dean's death._

_**"Ultimately, it was all about saving one human, right? Well, guess what. He's dead, too."** _

_"He said...he was gonna kill you...you and Sammy. I didn't know what to do," Dean says, burying his face in his hands. "I couldn't beat him."_

_"Metatron," Cas says softly, slowly coming to the realization that this Dean has no knowledge of the events that have transpired since his awakening as a demon. This is the Dean Winchester that remains...imprisoned within the Mark of Cain's influence. This is the man he loves._

_"Cas...what happened? Why am I still here? You're really...not dead?"_

_"Dean, you must listen to me. I'm here. I'm right here. I'm not hurt," he lies, not certain he can bear telling Dean what's happened between them. "I am safe. Sam is safe. We're going to save you."_

_"Save me from what?" Dean asks, suddenly getting to his feet, his features twisted with his own personal blend of anger and fear. "Cas, what happened?"_

_"I tried to stop it. I tried to save you," the angel whispers in agony, turning away from Dean. "I would have given my life to keep you safe."_

_"What happened, Cas?!" Dean demands, beginning to storm toward the barrier, but he is held back just as solidly as Castiel is. Almost immediately, he begins to beat his fists against the barrier. "What the fuck is this? Cas! What's going on?!"_

_"It's no use," the angel answers, his shoulders slumping in misery. "We can't get through."_

_"Cas!_ _**Cas!** _ _" he cries out, his pounding and shouting becoming all the more desperate._

_"I'm sorry, Dean. I'm so sorry," he says, his fingers curling into fists against the strange wall of glass, but before another word can be exchanged, the glass is shattering and Dean is collapsing into his arms._

_"Dean? Dean! Are you all right?" Cas shouts, but as he cradles the hunter in his ams, the man's shoulders begin to shake. He's_ _**laughing.** _

_"So what were you gonna tell him?" Dean asks as he looks up at him, eyes black once more. "Would you have told him about all the fun we had? About how much_ _**better** _ _his life is now I've taken over? Or do you think it's_ _**kinder** _ _not to let him see what he is?"_

_"Stop it," Cas hisses as he looks away from the demon, tears pouring steadily down his face as Dean wraps his arms around him, cradling him against his chest...strangely gentle for the violence in his voice._

_"Forget about him, Angelface. That Dean's gone. He's dead and buried._ _**I'm** _ _your lover now, so you'd better get used to it," he growls, pressing a possessive kiss to the pulse point in Cas' neck._

_"No, he isn't," Cas says quietly._

_"Isn't what?" he demands._

_"He isn't gone. Don't say he's gone," the angel says, eyes gazing blearily up through the darkness, toward the absent Heaven. "He lives in you. So long as you exist, he will_ _**never** _ _be gone. I_ _**am** _ _going to save you, Dean...whether you like it or not," he insists, focusing his gaze back on the demon._

 _"Wish you'd shut up about that," Dean snarled as he shoved him away. "What would you do if the demon really_ _**was** _ _all that was left? Would you still love me...Cas?" he asks, and the way he says it...the vulnerable single syllable of the familiar nickname...it almost breaks the angel._

 _"I will love Dean Winchester until the last star burns itself out in the heavens. Nothing will ever change that. You will_ _**never** _ _be past saving, Dean, so don't try to convince me otherwise," he says firmly. He believes this, but that doesn't mean the demon's words don't plant a certain seed of fear inside him._

_"On and on like a broken record," the demon mocks, easily falling back into the ruthless, heartless persona. "What do I have to do to convince you? Do I need to wipe out a city? Take out a hospital? Kill a kid?" he suggests callously, and Castiel can't help the tremor of fear that runs down his spine at this. "Well, get ready for hell on earth, Angelface. I'm through beatin' around the kids table. The games are just gettin' started. Here's lookin' at you, kid," he says with a wink._

Still grinning at the anguished look the angel had given him, Dean found himself blinking awake in a four poster bed.

"What the hell?" he muttered as he slowly sat up. Within moments, Charlie was bursting through the door.

"That'd be my question, too. About damn time you woke up, Winchester. I've had to feed the grunts some bs about Knights of Hell needing to replenish their power. Your power base is hanging pretty precarious down here, man. What the fuck have you been doing all week?" the redhead demanded.

"All...week?" the would-be king muttered in confusion, reaching unconsciously for the First Blade. Relief surged through him when his fingers curled around the weapon, lying right beside him.

"That's right, Fuzzy. You've been out for the better part of a week. Wanna clue me in here?"

"Honestly...I got no idea. I just felt totally drained and...then nothin'. Whatever it is, it's got somethin' to do with the angel," he said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"How so?"

"I dunno...but we're gonna find out."

XxX

When Cas snapped awake from the nightmare, he shot straight up in bed, breathing hard.

"Dean," he whispered.

"Castiel," he heard Lailah exclaim, looking to his side to see the elder angel sitting beside his bed. He hadn't realized it before, but he was gripping her hand almost impossibly tight in his. As he blinked at her in confusion, she reached a hand forward to feel his forehead. "How are you feeling? Are you all right?"

"Why...why would I not be?" he asked slowly. Now that he thought about it, he felt like he'd slept for a hundred years. He felt very well rested, better than could reasonably be expected, given the current situation. What was wrong now?

"Castiel, you...you've been unconscious for five days," she told him.

"Five...five _days?_ " he repeated in shock. Granted, the nightmare had felt much _longer_ than that, but he was aware that time worked differently in dreams. In human time, five days was a long time to be unable to account for. "What happened?"

"I believe it is connected to Dean and the little one. As I said, she will grant you power far beyond what you've ever experienced before, but that energy must still be paid for. If either you or Dean use too much power without rest, you will both pay for it," she explained.

"I don't believe I was using any power when it happened...so it must have been something Dean was doing," Cas mused as he swung his legs over the side of the small bed.

"It was. Crowley barely managed to escape the confrontation alive. Your Dean is probably waking up right now, as well."

"What's been happening? Have Sam and Merry returned yet?"

"Not yet. They should be returning with Hunter Silver sometime late tomorrow night."

"The sooner they return, the better. I fear Dean may be on the war path after what happened," he said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Castiel...what _did_ happen?" Lailah asked him gently, reaching for his hand once again.

For a moment, Castiel considered not telling her the truth. He was afraid of just how much of his heart he would reveal by saying what he _thought_ he'd seen...but no. He couldn't begin this alliance with lies or half truths. He just couldn't do that anymore.

"I think...I might have seen Dean. Not the demon, but the real Dean Winchester," he struggled to explain before Lailah could interrupt him. "I don't know how strong it is, but part of the man that was still exists somewhere within the demon. I'd suspected it before, but this is the first time I've actually seen it. It was really _him,_ Lailah."

XxX

"Well...I don't know how we did it, but we actually managed to pack your entire workshop into a Jeep and a truck," Sam said as he glanced around the now empty lab area. Merry was leaning against the door that led up to the old farmhouse and Hunter was standing in the middle of the empty space looking very pleased with herself.

"You know how it is, man. Always gotta be ready to get on the road and go," she said. She'd donned slightly more clothing for the drive to Kansas: a satin lavender top that flared outward, barely touching her skin. Interestingly enough, though, it seemed she was going to remain barefoot. Sam hadn't seen her in shoes once since he'd been here.

"And you double-checked everything?" Sam asked as he moved into the living area. What little there had been had been packed up already, so glancing around wasn't too difficult. "Not forgetting anything?"

"Nope. If you two are ready, we can hit the road...maybe hit up the local diner before we head out for the night."

Hunter might have said more, but Sam didn't fully notice. What he did notice was a closet door he hadn't properly seen before, maybe hidden by a stack of boxes or some such. Whatever the case may have been, he noticed it now and he moved forward to pull the door open.

"Stay out of there!" Hunter snapped at him, but she was already too late. Sam had seen what was inside.

"No way," he murmured in awe when his eyes landed on the guitar case. "You play?" he asked as he pulled the dusty case out of the closet.

"Maybe...a little...a long time ago. I haven't looked at that thing in years," Hunter mumbled bitterly.

"She's brilliant," Merry argued as she stood up from the door. "But she wasn't lying about the whole 'it's been years' thing. You should get her to sing sometime."

"Well...if you haven't played in a while, why do you keep it? You could have sold it," Sam suggested.

"Maybe that's what I'm doin' now. Gettin' rid of it. It's stayin' here. The demons can smash it to pieces for all I care," she ground out, voice once again dropping into the slight twang as her anger mounted.

"Yeah? Well maybe I don't-" Sam's voice immediately died in his throat when the lights in the room began to flicker. "Shit."

"Guess we got no time to argue. Let's get this moveable feast goin'," Hunter said, gesturing Merry to the side so she could open the door. What she found on the other side, though, was not the expected route to freedom. No, it was something else entirely.

"Hey, gang," Dean called jovially as he entered the work room. "How are things in the saving people, hunting things business?"

Fully aware of just what Dean was, none of them wasted any time asking how he could enter this demon proof room. The three hunters just drew their guns and aimed at the would-be demon king, all of them locked and loaded with gospel rounds.

"Are we really gonna do this?" Dean asked them. He had his hands raised in the air, but the First Blade was gripped tightly in one of them. "You guys know your shots aren't gonna kill me, yeah?"

"Maybe not, but it'll still hurt like fuck," Hunter announced boldly, keeping the demon in her sights.

"Oh," Dean started slowly as he turned to look at her. "Guess you'll be the one who designed that nasty piece a' work little miss Merry shot me with. Must have been a real disappointment for you, learnin' there was still one thing on the god damn planet you couldn't kill. After all, what else are you here for?" he taunted her as he drew closer. "You had _one job,_ Hunter. Couldn't even do that."

" _Dean!_ " Sam snarled at his brother, seeing the way Hunter was fighting to keep her hands from trembling. "Leave her alone!"

The demon just laughed at him, smirking as he watched Sam re-aim his gun. "Heheh, standin' up for the loser. That is so you, Sammy. Bet you've had heart to heart pep talks with this one, too."

"Leave them alone, Dean," Sam repeated. "If you want to whale on someone, whale on me."

Again, the demon laughed. "Oh, Sammy boy, you can't imagine how much I want to, but it's not the right time. You're not _ripe_ yet."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough. I didn't really come here for you, though finding you here with the gun lady and my little fuck buddy is definitely an added bonus."

"Stop it!" Sam snarled, focusing on Dean...not wanting to see Merry react to those words. "If you're not here for us, why did you come?"

"For the angel, of course," he said with a smirk. "Y'see, I've been missin' him real bad and I was hopin' we could have another go-"

"It is _so_ important to the future that you not finish that sentence," Sam interrupted. Just because he'd been rooting for his brother and the angel of the lord for several years didn't mean it was something he actually wanted to think about. It would take years to scrub away the mental images. "Besides, as you can see, Cas isn't here."

"We'll see about that," he said. Then with a snap of his head, he sent the three of them flying back against the wall, pinning them solidly with nothing more than his own power. As they struggled against the hold, the demon slowly approached Merry, leering at her as he reached out a hand to stroke the side of her face. Merry closed her eyes, knowing she could do nothing to stop this, but still struggling all the harder.

" _Don't touch her!_ " Sam screamed at his brother.

Dean just smirked as he leaned in close to breathe in the scent of Merry's hair.

"We had so much fun last time. Ready for round two?"

"See how much you like me when I'm not tied up, shithead," Merry hissed at him, trying to be brave, but she still wasn't looking at him.

"Hey, Angelface!" Dean called out, wincing as he looked up at the ceiling. "It was such a fuckin' turn on for you when I prayed to you before, so get your feathery ass over here. Show me how hot that makes you, Castiel!"

Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Sam also offered up a desperate prayer.

 _Don't answer, Cas. Whatever you do, don't you fucking answer him! You stay right where you are._ _**Don't answer!** _

XxX

Cas knew Lailah was speaking to him, but once again when he heard Dean praying to him, his ears seemed to stop functioning. All he could hear was Dean's voice.

"Dean?" he whispered.

_I'm guessin' that was no ordinary dream you and me just had. You had somethin' to do with me bein' asleep for a week. Wanna come to Virginia and talk about it?_

_Dean, I...I can't,_ he responded, just barely remembering his promise to Sam. _We have nothing to say to each other._

 _Angel, if you don't get your fine ass over here now, I'm gonna start killin' people,_ he warned him.

"You've got Sam and Merry," Cas said out loud as he got to his feet, pacing the room anxiously.

 _Uh-huh. I'll start with the girl...and I'll finish her_ _**real** _ _slow._

 _What would you have me do? I_ _ **can't**_ _come to you, Dean. I_ _ **cannot do it.**_ _My wings are torn. I do not have that power anymore,_ he argued desperately. He wanted to rescue Sam and the others. He wanted to stop this from happening, but he couldn't fly anymore. By the time he managed to reach Remington, it would be far too late.

 _I think we both know that's not true. You did it the first time I called you,_ Dean pointed out.

_I told you before. I don't know how that happened. It wasn't me._

_Even if that's true, I think you_ _**can** _ _get here. You've got power...just like me. So fucking_ _**use** _ _it!_

 _Dean, please,_ he tried to argue, but the moment the demon had planted the thought in his mind, it was already bearing fruit, already ripening into a wish. It was what he wanted...to have his wings back...to be able to fly to Sam and Dean as fast as he could...and that wish was heard.

Castiel felt the celestial energy emanate from his daughter before he could protest. He cried out in shock as he felt it circulate through both his vessel and his celestial form. He heard Lailah shouting somewhere behind him, but he couldn't focus on what she was saying. Consumed by sudden agony, he collapsed to his knees, screaming and clutching his head in pain.

Fire shot through every atom of his being, pooling at his shoulder blades and flaring out into existence as a blazing set of wings. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he imagined it must have been something like this when he first came into being. When the energy finally settled, he was left lying on the floor, trembling with the aftershocks of the transformation.

"Oh...Castiel," Lailah exalted. "They're beautiful."

Cas couldn't do much more than lie there, exhausted. He was certain they _were_ beautiful, but he could also feel how _different_ his new wings were from what had once been. He could feel them fluttering faintly against his back in the dimension where his true form existed, and he could feel how they thrummed with dark and divine fire. As with Dean, he found them both beautiful and terrifying.

"Are you all right?" Lailah asked as she knelt beside him. Slowly, he shook his head.

"It...is not of import," he muttered as he struggled to his feet. She was right there beside him, helping him to stand. "I need to go. They need my help."

"Castiel, no. You can't seriously be thinking of going out there in this state. You'll be playing right into his hands."

"I know that," he said as he moved away from her, swaying briefly before managing to stand on his own, "but it does not matter. Sam and Merry will die without my help." Then, with a brief fluttering of wings, he was gone, and not a second later, Crowley, Elaine, and Dorothy all arrived at the doorway.

"Where did he go?" Crowley asked.

XxX

Dean had to admit he was almost disappointed when he heard the faint flutter of wings, but that mild disappointment disappeared when he remembered that it meant he'd get to be with the angel again. He smirked as he turned to greet him.

"Hello, Dean," the angel said softly when their eyes met.

"See, Angelface? I knew you could do it," he returned, eyeing Castiel's new wings appreciatively.

"No...Cas, _no!_ " Sam growled as he struggled against Dean's hold on him. "Get out of here!"

"You wish to speak with me," Castiel said, pointedly shutting out Sam's anger and despair.

"Yeah. Maybe a bit more than that," Dean said, continuing to eye him up and down.

"Dean, it's me you want. Let the others go," Castiel said firmly.

"Aw, you don't want 'em to _watch?_ " the demon mock-pouted, winking at the angel with all the considerable amount of lust that was in him.

"Let them go," Castiel repeated without even batting an eyelash. Finally, the demon sighed.

"All right, fine. I guess I can do that much," he said, releasing the three humans from his grip and allowing their bodies to crash to the floor.

"Sam, get the others out of here," Cas ordered, keeping his eyes fixed on Dean's the entire time.

"Cas, no! You can't just-"

"Hunter Silver must survive. Everything depends on it. Take her to safety _now._ I will deal with this," the angel said, still not looking away from the demon. "Trust me."

Sam looked utterly torn as he pulled himself to his feet, but ultimately he growled in frustration and went to help Hunter to her feet. "Fine, but if you die, I'm gonna kill you both!" he snapped at him.

"Noted," Cas said, watching the three disappear up the stairs.

"I hope you don't think it's _safe_ up there," Dean said with a sneer. "I've got this place surrounded. Charlie's waitin' to lead the charge."

"I'm aware. Sam and the others are equipped to deal with anything that might be up there, though," Cas explained as the two of them began to circle each other.

"Oh, yeah. Those special new bullets. Tell me, these gospels, are they really as important as all that? You said that little bitch had to survive. That's gonna be a real kicker, seein' as how she's only a few days from seein' the reaper at her shoulder. What's so important about those things?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck with the First Blade.

"It isn't only demons these bullets can kill. If Hunter has done her work correctly, they will also be able to kill angels."

"And why do you need to kill angels? What did you do this time? Oh, no, wait. I get it. They're not happy you and me got it on. Is that it?" Dean asked, his leer growing all the wider.

"Perhaps," Cas said quietly. That would certainly be true if and when Heaven found out.

"Well, I can see where they'd be pissed if you've been seein' anything like the power spikes I've been havin'. I guess that's how you managed to break through the angel proofing on this place," he said as he circled closer and closer.

"Yes," the angel said, moving closer right along with him. It hadn't been easy, but something had guided him through the power of the sigils, allowing him to bypass them.

"So is all this really just the result of me bangin' you? 'Cuz I gotta say, I'm havin' trouble swallowin' that. This can't really be the first time in history an angel and a demon have gotten it on."

"It isn't...but you and I are different. _You_ are different," Cas tried to explain, looking into Dean's eyes while struggling _not_ to reveal how painful this was. The demon just smirked, though. They were right up against each other now, circling in a dance of danger and desire.

"Why? Because you _love_ me?" he taunted, licking his lips as he eyed Castiel's own.

"If you do not already know, I cannot explain it to you. The reason exists within you...and within me. It's the only logical explanation for our strengthening abilities," Cas said. It was technically true; it just wasn't the whole truth. He wasn't ready to reveal the whole truth to Dean. Even if he was, he just couldn't risk their daughter's safety. He had no way of knowing how Dean would react. He would keep this secret as long as he could.

"In that case, we might just have to do it again," Dean suggested as he reached out a hand to run it along one of Castiel's new wings. "These are so fuckin' sexy, Angelface," he whispered in his ear just before leaning down to press a harsh kiss to the angel's neck.

Cas inhaled sharply at the intimate contact. He could feel each feather flaring beneath Dean's expert touch. With only a few simple strokes, he was already responding to Dean...in both body and spirit. The demon chuckled quietly against his neck, the vibration of it traveling straight to his groin.

"Hngh...Dean," he groaned quietly, unable to help himself.

"Hot damn, but you want this bad, don'tcha, Castiel," he said just before mouthing Cas' collarbone through his shirt. The angel almost didn't notice when he began to undo the buttons.

"I don't...deny it," Cas ground out when Dean pressed a hot, demanding kiss to his newly bared chest. "I...hate myself for it...but I've wanted this for too long," he hissed, digging his fingers into Dean's shoulders as the demon kissed a fiery trail from his chest, down his stomach, and finally to his belt. Dean groaned in pleasure as he snapped the belt open. The zipper followed not long after.

"Knew you couldn't resist me," the demon growled quietly as he got back to his feet, reaching a hand between Cas' legs and squeezing. The angel cried out as Dean shoved him back against the wall, feeling himself grow completely hard in the demon's hand. "You just can't stay away, can you."

"Maybe...maybe not... _oh!_ " he gasped as Dean ran his thumb roughly along the length of him. "Unh...Dean...please..."

"Heh, always knew there was a slut hidin' somewhere in that pretty, virgin angel," he said as he slowly moved to his knees before Cas, casting smoldering eyes up at him as he drew out his cock, continuing to stroke it all the while.

"Ah...hngh...Dean... _oh!_ " he groaned, hips twitching involuntarily against the demon's hand. He wasn't sure how much of this he could take before coming completely undone.

"I'd tell you to shut up, but y'know, I gotta say...I _really_ like hearin' you scream for me, angel. You got no idea how long I waited to hear that voice...completely _wrecked,_ " he growled. When he darted out his tongue for a single quick lick up the angel's length, Castiel very nearly screamed. Were it not for Dean holding him up, his legs probably would have given way beneath him.

If Dean spoke after that, it was completely lost to Castiel. When the former hunter closed his lips around the tip of his cock, the angel was set adrift on sensations of moist heat and intense pleasure. Sometimes he found himself gripping skin, other times hair, but most of the time, it was just a sloppy mashup of tongue, teeth, and thrusting. Every time Dean bobbed his head up and down Cas' hard cock, he found his breath coming shorter and shorter. Close...close...closer...so close...sweet Heaven, he was almost there!

Then, with one last thrust, something inside of him burst and he was spilling down Dean's throat, screaming his name in absolute ecstasy. For a brief, perfect moment, his body was arcing away from the wall and he was standing on the tips of his toes, caught in the grip of the orgasm. He wasn't fully aware of coming down from that perfect height, but the next thing he _was_ aware of was leaning against the wall, having fallen to his knees. Both of his forms were still trembling with the aftershocks of the climax. He was just barely aware of Dean pressing up against him, whispering in his ear.

"Told you I could make you scream, pretty angel," he said, sucking on his earlobe a moment before pulling back.

Castiel wasn't certain how long he lay there, fighting to surface from beneath the waves of bliss, but he waited until he was ready. After all, he would need all of his wits about him for what he was planning.

"It seems only right...I should return the favor," he said, locking his eyes on Dean's. The demon quirked up an eyebrow in interest.

"Gonna fall into temptation with me, Angelface? Didn't know it was gonna be this easy to corrupt you. I'm almost disappointed. But hell, if you're offerin'..." he said, voice trailing off as he got to his feet, pushing Cas back against the wall. "Go ahead and _blow me,_ angel."

At first, Castiel wasn't sure what to do. He could see the distinct bulge of the demon's stiffening member beneath the fabric of his jeans, but he just couldn't make himself do anything. He desired Dean, of course, but he just didn't have the experience he did. He didn't know how to 'make this good.' How was he supposed to bring himself to do this?

 _You_ _ **must**_ _do this,_ he reminded himself. _It's the only way._

Finally managing to steel himself, Castiel reached forward and tore open Dean's belt and pants. Then he slowly drew out his hard cock, hesitantly running his fingers over the heated, swollen flesh. Briefly, he puffed out his cheeks before leaning forward and swirling his tongue around the bulbous head. Almost immediately, Dean was groaning, one hand fisting in Cas' hair while the other arm kept him propped against the wall.

"That's it, angel baby. Just like that," the demon encouraged, moaning as his hips rolled against Cas' face, near choking him when the length was forced nearly down his throat. With a choked cough, Cas tried to back off, but Dean held him there, forcing him to continue.

Cas couldn't perform the same head motions Dean had done earlier. All he could really manage was to hold as much of Dean's prick in his mouth as he could and just suck on it. Dean didn't seem to mind his limitations, though. He just continued to writhe above him, moaning obscenities as he thrust his hips back and forth.

"Oh, yeah... _aw, yeah_ ," the demon groaned, just on the verge of spilling over. "Come on, baby. We're...almost..."

Finally, Dean came with a harsh cry...and when he tried to hold Cas' head in place to force him to swallow, the angel wrenched his head away, causing the demon to come across his bare chest instead. In that exact moment, Castiel reached for the First Blade, which Dean had looped to his belt. Just as soon as he'd yanked the weapon free, he rolled away, instantly shifting to the other side of the empty workshop.

Dean laughed as he turned to face him, trying to sound casual, but Cas could still see the sudden tension in his shoulders.

"All right, Angelface, that was a good trick, but play time's over. Give it back."

"I don't think so, Dean. You won't be doing much advancing of your regime without this weapon."

"You don't honestly think this is gonna stop me killin' people, do you? I can slaughter untold millions just fine without it," Dean mocked, trying to make the theft seem like less than it was.

"I don't imagine such a thing for even a moment. I can't stop you from killing...but I _can_ stop you from creating more Knights of Hell. You can't do that without the First Blade, so I think it will be staying with me for the time being."

"Castiel, I swear, if you don't give the blade back to me right this minute, I'm gonna start wipin' cities off the map. Don't think I won't!" he snarled at him, eyes starting to flicker black as he stalked toward Castiel.

"You, Dean, will have much bigger problems when your flock learns you've lost the First Blade. We'll see how that turns out for you," Cas said right before flying away. As he winged his way to the next fight, he could still hear Dean's enraged shriek in his ears.

 _I'll kill you for this, Castiel!_ _**I'll kill you!** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I suppose this chapter was a bit longer than others, but I certainly hope you didn't want me to stop before the boys got their play, heheh.


	8. A Mother's Prayer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "You and your sister were different. It was an ambitious new deal. Yours was the first soul born for the sole purpose of coming to Hell. You were born to be one of us, Elaine," Crowley told her...
> 
> "People die around me, Sam Winchester. My parents, their friends, my friends...I should think you'd understand that better than anybody. This time...this time I really thought...maybe...no!" she cut herself off. "They died, too. Just like everyone else. What makes you think you and your team are any different?"...
> 
> "I don't imagine such a thing for even a moment. I can't stop you from killing...but I can stop you from creating more Knights of Hell. You can't do that without the First Blade, so I think it will be staying with me for the time being."
> 
> "Castiel, I swear, if you don't give the blade back to me right this minute, I'm gonna start wipin' cities off the map. Don't think I won't!" he snarled at him, eyes starting to flicker black as he stalked toward Castiel...

As Sam pounded up the stairs into the farmhouse with Merry and Hunter close behind, he knew perfectly well they weren't heading to safety. There was no way Dean was just letting them walk away. This was confirmed when they hit the front door and looked out to see a gang of at least twenty demons surrounding the Jeep. At the head of the group was Charlie, waiting eagerly for them to step out of the house.

"Well...this does complicate matters, now doesn't it," Hunter said with a long suffering sigh.

"Ready to come out and play, Sam?" Charlie called out to him. "This gang hasn't been topside in a couple decades. They're just _itching_ to tear out some entrails!"

"Damn it," Sam muttered under his breath. Even if he knew the gospels wouldn't kill Charlie, he still wasn't sure he could bring himself to shoot her. Would it affect her body later when they attempted to cure her?

"Well, we don't want them to have the bullets and we don't want them to have Hunter, but we _definitely_ don't want them to have them both together," Merry said.

"Separate the lock from the key?" Hunter suggested. "You take my truck and Sam and I can take the Jeep...assuming we can get to it, of course," she said, holding out her keys to Merry, who immediately swapped them for her own. The truck was still off in a side shed that connected to the house around back. Presumably the demons hadn't found it yet.

"Just what I was thinking," Merry said with a grin.

"So we see how many we can take down and make our getaway," Sam said, gaze shifting between his fellow hunters and the current obstacle. He didn't much like the idea of Merry going off by herself, but he felt certain Hunter had happened upon the same line of thinking he had. The younger hunter had a much better chance of making it through if she could get to the truck. Hunter was signing herself up to be a banquet by taking the route through the front door and she'd need as much help as she could get. Therefore he would stick with her. Either she or the truck had to make it out of Remington in one piece.

Nodding to each other, the three hunters took up positions: Sam at the front door and Hunter and Merry at windows on both sides. The demons had spread out into a semi circle surrounding the front of the farmhouse.

"You've got one chance to back off, Charlie!" Sam called out to her, weapon aimed at the demon who stood beside her. "Your stunt demons aren't gonna like what they find in here!"

Charlie just laughed at this. Then she raised a hand and signaled forward. Five of her lackeys immediately jumped on the command.

"Fer pacem agnis perditis!" Hunter began at Sam's left.

"Dona requiem dentibus lupi!" Sam took up the call.

"Et voca malleum mortis Diabolo te iubeo!" Merry finished. All three of them fired at once, taking down three of the oncoming demons. Hunter and Sam took down the other two as the first three dropped to their knees, fire spreading through each meat suit and burning them all to ashes. The last two were not far behind.

"Works like a charm," Hunter said with a grin, kissing the muzzle of her pistol.

"Anyone else wanna try it!" Merry challenged the suddenly apprehensive looking band of demons. For a moment that was both painful and nostalgic, Sam was reminded of Dean, because of _course_ Merry would antagonize the gang of demons who wanted to kill them.

"There's no way you can hit all of us!" Charlie shouted back after clearly taking a moment to shake off her own uncertainty. Before she could give the command, though, something else happened.

Crowley was suddenly standing on the front porch of the farmhouse, shaking his head slowly.

"You don't want to be doing that, love. I've got you just as surrounded," he announced.

"There's no way. I doubt you even _have_ that many demons still loyal to you," Charlie fired back at him.

"Oh, no? Let's play a little war game, then, shall we," the demon king said, and at some unseen signal a fresh swarm of demons appeared out of the darkness, falling upon Charlie's rapidly dwindling posse.

Crowley grinned as he watched the sudden outbreak of carnage. Then he called to Sam over his shoulder, "You might want to be getting out of here about now."

"Why are you doing this?" Sam demanded quietly.

"Well, aside from us technically being allied, I have a vested interest in seeing the girl with the magic bullets survive the night. So you get off your arses and hit the road before I change my mind," he said. "Also, I would very much appreciate _not_ being stabbed in the back just now. I _did_ just save your necks. No pot shots on the way out please."

Sam didn't say anything. He just nodded to Hunter and the two of them were heading out into the fray while Merry made her way out back. Crowley was right. They couldn't very well tell which side was which...except for the demon who tried to take a bite out of Hunter as they climbed into the Jeep. The gunsmith put a bullet right between her eyes. With Sam at the wheel and Hunter in the gunner's position in case anyone should attempt to follow them, they were on the road in seconds.

"Doesn't look like we're being followed," Hunter said after sticking her head out the window for about the hundredth time since they'd hit the highway. "I'll give you one thing, Sam Winchester, you sure know how to show a girl a good time."

"Oh, shut up," Sam said, his tone caught in a very strange place between amusement and dread. "God, I hope Cas got out of there."

"This is, I believe, what we would call 'good timing'," Cas said as he appeared in the back seat of the Jeep, nearly causing Sam to go off the road.

"Definitely one thing I didn't miss about angel wings," Sam groaned. "Cas, what happened back there? How did you get away?"

"Flew," the angel answered succinctly before leaning heavily forward, almost as if he might be sick.

"Hey, what's wrong? You okay?" Hunter asked him.

"I am...exhausted," Cas answered, not looking up at them. "Breaking through your warding...twice, even...was no small task. The flight was not easy, either. I haven't flown for more than a year now."

"So...I guess we have the little bundle of joy to thank for your new wings?" Sam asked.

"Yes. All I really had to do was wish for it...and she granted it. I hadn't really meant to break my promise, Sam, but he was threatening to kill all of you. Besides, we have _this_ now," Cas told them, revealing what he had tucked into his trench coat.

Sam glanced back to see the First Blade clutched in his hands...but he also happened to notice that Castiel's shirt was unbuttoned and there was a strange yellow-white spatter down his bare chest.

"Cas, what...what is that?"

"I...I had to distract Dean in order to get the blade away from him. So I performed ora-"

"Oh, no! Oh, _God_ no!" Sam swiftly interrupted when he finally realized exactly what the substance was. "I do not need to hear that and I _don't_ need that visual."

Hunter laughed. "Been a while, has it, Sam?"

Sam glanced incredulously at the gunsmith. Was she really...right _now?_ "That has nothing to do with anything. I have a constitutional right to object to hearing about my _brother's_ sex life."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"We are done talking about it," he said firmly before turning his attention back to Cas, pointedly ignoring the splatter on his chest. "What made you think to take the blade off him?"

"What Dorothy said...about Dean using it to turn Charlie. I thought it might prove useful if he were unable to create any more Knights of Hell. We need to press any advantage we possibly can. Perhaps Lailah and I can study the weapon...maybe discern some of its secrets," the angel said, glancing down in anger at the weapon that had stolen Dean from him. If he could, he would have _loved_ to destroy the evil thing, but he was afraid to find out what effect that might have on Dean. For now, they would simply keep it out of his hands and try to learn a little more about it.

"Y'know, if you can figure out what makes that thing tick, I might be able to add it to the gospel," Hunter said, reaching out a hand to touch the jawbone. Cas pulled it back from her with a look of warning.

"You suggest we create a bullet that can kill Knights of Hell...when the only two in existence are people we have _no wish_ to kill?" he clarified.

"No, I'm not saying that at all. What I _am_ suggesting is that we'll need a weapon that can kill this Schrodinger's archangel of yours if worse should come to worst. Since there are no more archangel blades in existence, this weapon may well be our only option," she explained.

"That does make a kind of sense," Cas mused as he surveyed the blade a second time. It had been Dean's damnation, but...was it possible this blade also held their daughter's salvation?

"Weaponry. It's kinda my thing, kiddo," she said as she kicked her bare feet up onto the dash.

"And...Dean still doesn't know about...about the kid?" Sam put in, trying to catch Cas' eye in the rearview mirror.

Cas shook his head when their gazes finally locked. "No, he does not. Dean is still young in his senses. I told him the increase in power was merely the result of our coupling, which isn't entirely untrue. I'm not certain how long he will continue to be deceived, though. It will not be long before the separate entity is visible within my grace, even to those who aren't looking for it. I fear that in only a few months, Dean will be able to sense his daughter. I cannot conceal her forever."

"Well...that'll probably be easier if you don't fly off every time he calls you," Sam pointed out.

"And that will be made easier if you all don't go off and get yourselves captured, yes?" Castiel fired right back.

"He's got us there," Hunter said with a chuckle.

"You're awful cheerful for somebody half of Hell wants dead," Sam said, fighting to keep his gaze on the road.

"Says _you._ It's hardly the first time someone's tried to kill me. They've been trying and failing ever since my mom went into labor in the middle of a kelpie hunt. Someone else always dies instead," she said, her chipper exterior briefly cracking to reveal the anguish and self-loathing Sam knew was hiding underneath, but then she forced a grin for him. "Let's see who cancels who out."

"Cas, do you think maybe you could fly her out of here? Get her to the bunker?" Sam asked, both not wanting to deal with her anymore and wanting her to be safe. "It's one less thing to worry about."

"That...would not be advisable," Cas said after several moments of consideration.

"Why? You can't do it?"

"It is not that. I feel I _could_ do it, but not without risk of blacking out again so soon after breaking the wards, and that could bring harm to any one of us. I would not risk it unless it were absolutely necessary."

"Mm, bad luck, kiddo. Guess it's gonna be a long drive," Hunter said as she hunkered down in the passenger seat.

"Yeah, sure. Maybe you can keep us entertained with a song," Sam suggested, reaching into the back to pat the guitar propped up in the seat next to Castiel. Hunter whipped around to look at the instrument, her glare shifting between it and Sam.

"Why the _fuck_ did you bring that?" she snapped at him, her cheery disposition evaporating in an instant. "We were surrounded by demons, runnin' for our lives...and you brought my fucking _guitar_ with you? You may honestly be certifiably insane, Winchester. I might just have to shoot you in the head when we stop for gas."

"I take it that is not a serious threat," Cas said slowly.

"Don't tempt me," the gunsmith grumbled, burrowing back down into her previous position.

"Just leave her be, Cas. Misery loves company after all," Sam said as he focused his attention on the road again, a grin settling on his face for the first time since the ordeal had begun.

XxX

For the first time in a good long while, something actually went right and both cars made it back to the bunker without incident. Even though she looked half dead, Hunter eagerly hopped out of the Jeep when Sam parked in the garage.

"Got a place I can set up shop in this Bat Cave of yours?" she asked.

"Plenty of space. The Men of Letters were researchers more than anything, so there's plenty of lab space. Take your pick," Sam told her as he climbed out of the small vehicle. Merry was pulling in with Hunter's pickup just as Lailah, Elaine, and Dorothy appeared at the entrance to the garage. Just as soon as the truck was parked, Elaine was racing toward it and Merry was spilling out of the driver's seat and into her arms.

"Are you all right? Crowley told us what happened," Elaine blustered as she held her sister tightly.

"We're okay. It's all fine," Merry reassured her, returning the hug just as fiercely. Sam stared at them oddly for a moment.

"Something wrong?" Hunter asked him.

"No, it's just...it's a little different from how I'm used to seeing a job end. There's not usually this much hugging."

"Ah, the joys of being female and not having to worry about crushing those petty feelings down where they can't be seen," the gunsmith said with a chuckle. Sam shot a raised eyebrow at her, as if to ask if _she_ had really said such a thing. Before anymore could be said, though, Crowley appeared next to Hunter.

"So, do hope my losing a parcel of foot soldiers was worth it. How does the girl with the magic bullets?" the demon king asked, eyeing Hunter appreciatively.

"Oh, you back right off, kitten. We're not gonna start-" Hunter started, but whatever she'd been about to say was interrupted when her eyes suddenly went wide and her shoulders convulsed. Without warning she was bending over and throwing up all over Crowley's boots.

For a moment, the King of Hell just stood in disgusted silence before saying to no one in particular, "Why do I have a sinking feeling this is going to become a thing?"

"Hunter, are you all right?" Sam asked as he got to his knees beside her. She dry-heaved a few more times before finally allowing Sam to pull her back, holding her easily in his arms as he pressed a hand to her forehead. No fever.

"Well...I feel better _now,_ " she said shakily as she rolled her eyes. "That was...kinda sudden, though. Guess I'm just not used to a solid food diet anymore."

"Which I don't understand at all. That's terrible for the babies," Lailah said absently. "I'm amazed you've kept them this long."

For a moment, everyone in the garage just stared at the angel of conception in shock. Hunter was the one to finally mumble. "Excuse me... _babies?_ "

"Oh," the angel said softly as realization dawned in her eyes. "Because you don't know. That would be the reason. I am _so_ sorry. Probably not the best way to break that news. Well...congratulations. You're pregnant with twins."

"So I don't even get the shock of just pregnant? I've got to skip straight into twins?" Hunter growled as she pushed Sam away and got to her feet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. Mother-fucking-"

"Hunt...do you know who it was?" Merry managed to ask.

"Yeah, I fucking know who it was. He's the only guy I've slept with in about ten years. It was fucking Leigh, and of course he had to go and fucking _die_ on me," she snarled, tangling her fingers in her hair and yanking in frustration.

"So...how far along, would you guess?" Elaine asked.

"Six weeks," Hunter answered before Lailah could say anything. "That's when it happened. Fucking _mistake._ "

"And you didn't notice when you, oh I dunno, skipped your period?" Merry pressed.

"Honestly, no. That's actually a pretty common side effect of...poor diet," she said, her anger quite suddenly fizzling out when she pressed a hand against her painfully flat stomach. "Guess...Guess I really _do_ need to start eating. Ain't just me now. _Fuck,_ " she hissed before hurrying out of the garage.

"Hunter, you ca-"

"Sam, wait," Crowley stopped him before he could go after her.

"What?"

"Think about it a minute. The fifth item. The trust of one who is not yet a mother. There's no way this is a coincidence. It's _got_ to be her. _Her_ trust."

"Whoa," Sam said quietly, somewhat blown by the sudden leap in logic.

"If that is true, it leaves us in possession of at least three of the items," Cas said, mood somewhat lifted by the notion.

"It _is_ true," Lailah said, her tone thoughtful as she looked around at each of them. "It almost seems to me...that these things are falling into place...like this is supposed to happen."

"Hate to break it to you, Lailah, but we pretty much destroyed fate when we derailed the apocalypse. Now if you don't mind, I've got a semi-suicidal pregnant woman to deal with," Sam said to them before hurrying after Hunter.

The gunsmith had found her way into the library. Caught somewhere between bitter humor and outright panic, she looked very harried as she perused the Men of Letters' massive archive of information.

"Wouldn't happen to have a copy of 'What to Expect When You're Expecting', would you?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Not so much. This archive's all about the supernatural. I wouldn't worry too much, though. Lailah's basically a walking pregnancy encyclopedia. Babies are kinda her thing. At least your pregnancy'll be somewhat predictable. Cas has been all over the place," Sam said, following Hunter's erratic pacing among the shelves, but being careful not to get too close.

"Yeah...right...something to be grateful for," she muttered, but then she threw down the tome she was holding and pounded a fist against the shelf. " _Fuck!_ "

"Hunter, do you...do you even _want_ these kids?" Sam asked her. He had no idea what effect an abortion might have on Hannah's ritual, but he didn't really care just then. What Hunter actually _wanted_ was much more important.

"It's...not that. Leigh may have been a stupid, self-sacrificing idiot, but...he was a good man. He deserves to be able to leave something behind. I can't destroy the last piece of him that exists in the world," she said, gripping the bookshelf in white knuckles, as if she'd collapse if she didn't hold onto it. Still she wouldn't look at Sam.

"That isn't what I asked you," Sam said firmly. "What do _you_ want?"

"I didn't plan on any of this. I'm really not...the mothering type...and if anyone who gets close to me dies, what does that say for any children I might have? Really? What kind of mother gives birth to children she knows she's going to get killed? Mother of the fucking year."

"Still not what I asked," Sam said, drawing just a little closer.

"It...it's not _right_...for me to be a mom. What can a hunter give to a kid anyway? What besides fear and death?"

"Hunter...all I'm hearing are excuses," Sam said slowly as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Do _you want_ to be a mother?"

The pair stood in silence for several long minutes before Hunter finally whispered, "Yes."

"That's all that matters then. We'll help you. It's the least we can do, what with you letting us use the gospels."

"That's nothing. Those are _meant_ to be used. It...it's what Leigh and the others died for."

"What happened? If I can ask," Sam asked, letting her know it was all right if he couldn't.

"Well...there were a lot of Abaddon loyalists running around after your brother took her out. It's not his fault; I don't blame him or anything. She needed to go down. Point being, though, that these stunt demons were a bit lacking in direction. They needed something to insure them against Crowley. I don't know how they found out about my work, but they came after me. I was working with three others at the time. Leigh and Luna Carson, and Rick Callaghan. We were working a vampire nest in Florida and...they ambushed us...said they knew about the bullets. The other three, they...they fought for me. I don't...don't usually do leg work on cases. I can't help but wonder...if I hadn't been there...maybe they'd still be alive," she hissed, and with how hard she was gripping the shelf, Sam was almost amazed her fingers didn't break. He could see that her eyes were bright with tears, but it seemed she would sooner bash her own skull in than let them fall.

Sam didn't really know what to say. He let her talk until she couldn't talk anymore. He knew he'd felt many of the same things she was feeling now. Hell, he _still_ felt them. If he allowed himself to pursue his interest in this woman, how long could she reasonably hope to survive? But then...if she had the same problem, maybe _he_ was the one who couldn't hope to survive for once. Whatever the case, he knew she didn't want to hear about how none of it was her fault, or about how she wasn't alone, for in her view, she was...always would be. Ultimately, all he said was, "We're not going to quit. We'll figure it out."

Hunter didn't say anything, but he could feel the tension in her shoulder easing slightly. He had no idea how long the two of them just stood there, but he was willing to do so just as long as she needed him to.

XxX

After the day's drama had settled, as much as drama in the bunker was _capable_ of settling, leastwise, Merry and Elaine found themselves in the bathroom, talking while Merry got ready to take a shower.

"Honestly, I think they'd be adorable together," Merry said as she slipped off her bra. "We absolutely need to make that happen."

"Really, Mer? You want to play matchmaker right now?" Elaine asked, rolling her eyes as she looked up from the old sword catalogue she was flipping through. "With _three kids_ on the way, one of them either a savior or an antichrist, and us about to be right in the middle of yet _another_ war between Heaven and Hell. You want to fix up one of our best friends with a _Winchester?_ Yeah...can't see _that_ ending badly."

"Come on, Laney. What better time? They both need somebody. It'd be good for them," Merry continued as she shook her hair out of the loose braid she'd had it in. Then she slipped out of her jeans and panties, moving over to check on the water temperature.

"What better time? Oh, I dunno, maybe when Hunter's not in mourning for the father of her children?"

"Work with me here, big sis," Merry said with a tiny growl of frustration. "There was nothing between Leigh and Hunter and you know it. It was probably just a bad hunt. You should have seen the way she was flirting with Sam this week. I haven't seen her seriously flirt in...Jesus, I dunno, four years. Sam was totally into it, too. He was acting like a little boy with a crush, granted, but the point is he would definitely tap that."

Elaine raised both eyebrows as she set the book down beside the sink. "Did I really just hear those words come out of your mouth? I may need to bleach my brain."

"Well, while you're doing that, I'm finally going to get myself a proper shower," Merry announced as she moved back toward the shower, but before she could hop in, Elaine's next words stopped her.

"Meredith, there are seriously more important things to be worrying about right now. Crowley, he...he told me why he and Dean are so interested in me."

"What?" Merry demanded as she slowly turned to face her sister. Elaine wasn't looking at her. Instead her gaze was fixed on the ratty old rug she was standing on. "What did he tell you?"

"That...that _he_ was the one...who made the deal with Mom. He did it so...a child would be born...whose specific purpose was to go to Hell. My soul was created...just to become a demon," she explained, and while she talked, her gaze shifted to the mirror beside her, looking at her own trembling reflection rather than at the person she was actually talking to. After all, there wasn't a whole lot of difference. They both did it on occasion.

"Elaine...you're not buying into that, are you?" Merry asked as she stepped away from the shower. "My big sister would never let anybody define her like that. We've both known for a long time how we were born. Why does this make things any different?"

"Well, it _is_ different for you. You weren't _made_ for this. You get to _choose_ who you are."

"So do you," Merry tried to argue.

"You know what? Forget about it," Elaine said as she turned away from her, going for her book again. "You're going to waste the hot water and I still haven't showered."

"Elaine-"

"How about this. We'll talk about it when you're ready to talk about what happened with Dean," she said as she buried her nose in the book, knowing that would be the end of it...and she wasn't wrong. Merry sighed in frustration before finally climbing into the shower. It wasn't the nice peaceful cleansing she'd been hoping for, though.

Elaine's words made her remember that night, now more than a week ago. Sometimes she felt like it had been years since it happened. Other times it felt like Dean had only just pulled back from her...like she was still tied to the chair in the alternate space. As the water ran down her skin, she could almost swear she could feel the drops of her own blood flowing as he gripped her arms in talon-like fingers. She could feel _him_ , and with every motion, she scrubbed at her skin a little harder in a useless effort to wash the feeling away. She didn't become aware of just what she was doing to herself until she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her knees.

Blinking herself out of the delusion, Merry realized she'd fallen. She was on her knees in the shower and she'd scraped her skin so raw it was actually bleeding from a few places.

"Merry!" Elaine called out when she heard the sound of the crash. "Merry, are you okay?"

Merry tried to talk, but no words came. Just a pained, choked sob, and when Elaine heard that sound, she barged into the shower, looking horrified when she saw the state her sister was in.

"Oh, Merry. Mer!" she cried out, quickly getting to her knees beside her sister, paying no mind to the shower head raining down on her as she pulled Merry into her arms. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry."

Merry didn't say anything. She just cried as she clung to her twin. Neither of them knew just how long they knelt there getting soaked, but their first reminder of the outside world came when a hand suddenly reached into the shower to shut the water off. The pair looked up to see Lailah standing over them.

"It is, perhaps, better to bathe _after_ you've cried all your tears," she said gently as she sat down on the floor beside them. Reaching forward, she pressed her hands to the scrapes on Merry's body and instantly healed them.

"Cas did that...before," Merry whispered, still clinging to her sister. "He healed...what Dean did to me...but I can still feel him. I don't think any healer in the world can do anything about that."

"No. That's something you'll have to face yourself," Lailah soothed, reaching forward once again to run her fingers through the younger Serra's wet hair.

"I trusted him!" she finally cried out, burying her face in her sister's chest. "He and Sam...they saved Elaine from that demon. I _trusted him!_ I know...I know it isn't _really_ his fault...but that...that's the face I see...at night. I don't know what to do. _I don't know what to do!_ " she sobbed against her sister's breast, and while Elaine held her, Lailah held the both of them, giving them the mother's touch that had so long been absent from their lives.

"It's okay. It's okay," Elaine whispered, receiving comfort from the small group hug as much as giving it. "I have no fucking idea how...but we're going to make this right."

Unknown to all but Lailah, Castiel was standing outside the bathroom listening in. He knew he shouldn't, but he'd been with Lailah when she'd sensed Elaine's faint prayer for their mother, so he'd followed...and he now remained because he felt he had to punish himself for this. If he hadn't let things get so far out of hand, these two girls wouldn't now be mixed up in their troubles...so he stayed, bearing witness to the suffering he'd caused.

_Dean...this isn't your fault. It's mine. If I hadn't listened to Metatron in the first place, none of it would have happened. I won't you let you suffer for my mistakes...not anymore._

XxX

Castiel often found himself torn on whether or not he enjoyed sleep. He'd found it annoyed him back when he'd first fallen, needing to take the time out to rest his exhausted vessel, but as time wore on, he'd found he enjoyed it a little. It was pleasing to wake up refreshed after a good night's sleep, and it was especially pleasing when he dreamed.

Then he'd regained grace and, like PB&J, sleep had become a thing of the past, but then Dean had impregnated him and he'd suddenly found there were times he just could not do without sleep. These days, though, it wasn't just dreams he had when he slept. For every sweet dream he had of sharing a kiss with Dean...of the hunter holding their baby girl...there was an equally horrible nightmare. It was one of those he was waking up from now.

Castiel sat up sharply from the couch he'd fallen asleep on, near hyperventilating as he looked around the library. Lailah immediately looked over from where she and Hunter were working.

"Castiel? Are you all right?" she asked him.

"Fine, fine," he murmured as his racing heart slowly started to calm. "Nightmares. How long was I asleep?"

"Near five hours."

"And I've left the two of you to do all the work again," he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"It's all right. You needed the rest," Hunter said absently as she ran a yew wand over the First Blade.

"And you didn't?" Cas asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Meh, I'm used to it. Besides, I've got two regular human babies renting space in my gut. You...you may just have a world-ending singularity growing in there. I imagine the strain is more than a little different."

At two months' pregnant, there was a very slight swell beginning to show in Hunter's previously flat belly. She'd put on a little more weight since coming to the bunker and she didn't look quite as emaciated as she had when Cas had first met her. He himself was at six weeks along and there was no physical change to his vessel yet, but he could feel the constant hum of the grace growing just beneath his own. Among everything else happening around him, the hum of his growing child was a soothing lullaby to his frazzled nerves.

Over the past weeks, Sam and the twins had gone out to work cases when they could, sticking to the plan of only one of the sisters accompanying him in order to keep the pair of them separate when not in the bunker. Hunter had been itching to get back out, but Lailah had insisted she remain behind until she was suitably satisfied that the gunsmith was no longer at death's door. It had been somewhat unsettling for the two angels to see the reaper lingering just outside the bunker, waiting for the young woman to finish what she'd started, but Hunter hadn't given up. She'd started eating again and a little color had returned to her previously pale skin. It was only in the last few days that the reaper had finally seen he wasn't needed and gone away. In all that time, the gunsmith had remained hard at work with Cas and Lailah to try and unlock the secrets of the First Blade.

"Mm, I believe Elaine's awake. I smell cinnamon rolls," Lailah said, and when Cas tilted his head back and sniffed the air, he found he was inclined to agree with her. The scent of cinnamon and pastry was just beginning to move through the air.

"Hey...hold up a minute," Hunter said slowly, sitting up in her chair with a spark of realization blazing to life in her eyes. "All this work...all these tests we've been running...what if we've been looking in the wrong place?"

"What do you mean?" Cas asked as he walked over to the table.

"I mean...we're assuming the weapon itself is what contains the mojo, but you said the weapon's no good without the Mark of Cain, right?"

"That is correct. What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying what if the blade's a decoy? A trick to keep the real weapon hidden? What if the Mark is the real weapon? After all, this isn't really a blade," she pointed out as she held up the ass's jawbone. "I don't expect one could do a lot of damage without the Mark's help.

Cas and Lailah shared a long look before Lailah finally came out with, "It's certainly possible. All this time...we've been commanding the blade to reveal its secrets. It could be that it _has_ none. Perhaps the true secret rests with the Mark itself."

Nodding, Castiel took the blade from Hunter's hand and held his own over it, focusing his energy on it.

"Vin aziazor hoiad."

_I invoke thee in the likeness of thy true master._

Properly summoned, the image of the blade began to flicker before the angel's eyes. For a moment, it appeared as the Mark of Cain, but then it shifted again, becoming the familiar lines and contours of an angel blade.

"An...angel blade?" Lailah wondered aloud.

"No," Castiel said softly as he began to understand. "An _arch_ angel blade. Lucifer knew he was for the Cage, but he would have wanted to remain an active force in the world at any cost."

"So the power he gave to Cain was that of his own blade...twisted beyond recognition...thus even in the Cage, his power would still be in the world," Lailah continued.

"And that must be why the thing's indestructible. Even imprisoned, so long as Lucifer exists in this world, his blade will go on existing, too. It would also explain Dean's ease with creating demons. With Lucifer's archangel blade, he'd have the ability to directly corrupt souls, just like he did," Hunter mused.

"So...the logical conclusion here...is that the only way to destroy the First Blade and erase the Mark of Cain forever...is to destroy Lucifer...which is _more_ than impossible," Cas said with a pained sigh. If it wasn't one thing, it was another.

"Not necessarily," Hunter pointed out. "If this thing really is an archangel blade, it might just have the juice to do what we need done...killing the Devil, along with this Israfil character. Honestly, I'm starting to lose count of how many birds we'll kill with just this one stone," Hunter said, sounding very self-satisfied as she kicked her feet up onto the table. However, before another word could be spoken, Elaine and Sam entered the library with cinnamon rolls and coffee.

"Had any luck, guys?" Sam asked them as he set the tray full of mugs on the table.

Hunter threw her head back and laughed, but Cas and Lailah both sighed, neither having yet decided if this was a good or bad thing. Either way, it was going to be a long conversation.

XxX

Meanwhile, in another part of the world, two jackals were waking from a long sleep.

They were a mated pair and they were very much not like other jackals. Their fur was black and sleek and should a human being gaze into their eyes, they would find an intelligence very much like their own staring back.

The male was the first to awake from their sleep. He shifted subtly before raising his head and giving a great yawn, blinking sleepily as he looked around their desert cave. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but something had called him from his sleep nonetheless, and it wasn't a lost soul.

Finally deciding that a shift was necessary, the jackal climbed to his feet, shaking himself off before allowing his luscious fur to shrink into his skin and his powerful canine limbs to shift into larger, more clumsy human ones. The man who had once been a jackal was just as handsome in this form as he had been in the last. His skin was a light brown color and soft black hair fell to his shoulders. The same warm brown eyes that had once gazed out of a wolfish face now had the rounder shape of human eyes. He was just as much at home in one skin as he was in the other. There was an air of power, majesty, and mystery surrounding this young-seeming man. Grinning faintly, he finally realized what it was that had woken him. As his grin widened, he rolled easily onto his side, reaching over to run his fingers through his mate's silken fur.

"Kiah? Kiah, wake up. It's time."

The female jackal awoke much more quickly than he had. Within moments, a beautiful woman was sitting at his side. Her skin was a shade lighter, but her long hair was just as black. Yawning, she leaned toward her mate and pressed a deep, lingering kiss to his lips.

"You really think so? You really think the waiting's over?" she asked him quietly, snuggling her naked body up close against his.

"Can't you hear it? Can't you feel it? The seven keys are gathering. The Souls are awakening in the veil. The time we've waited for, the answers Inpu promised us...it's all really happening. It's _time,_ Kiah," he practically yipped, leaning in to nuzzle her ear.

"Yes...I do hear it," she said quietly, easily returning the affectionate gesture. "But Tek...are you sure it's time for us to step in? It's not too soon?"

"No...I feel them...calling out to me. You'll feel it soon, too. Kiah, they'll need us. We must find them."

"All right, all right, you great whining wolf. I trust you," she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "We should probably hunt before we leave, though. We've got a long journey ahead of us," Kiah said just before shifting back into her jackal form and trotting out of their cave. Tek just continued to grin stupidly as he shifted, following after his mate as if in a daze. After all the endless years of waiting, the time had finally come. Their ages of service and sacrifice were finally going to mean something.

_We hear and obey, o Rose of Sharon._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, in case you hadn't already noticed it, pregnancy and motherhood are going to be very major themes in this story, so yes, be prepared for a lot of that. My only other note is that I can't completely guarantee the accuracy of this round of Enochian translation, but I did what I could. Hope everyone is still enjoying.


	9. There'll Be Peace When You Are Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "Think about it a minute. The fifth item. The trust of one who is not yet a mother. There's no way this is a coincidence. It's got to be her. Her trust."...
> 
> "I trusted him!" Merry finally cried out. "He and Sam...they saved Elaine from that demon. I trusted him! I know...I know it isn't really his fault...but that...that's the face I see...at night. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do!" she sobbed against her sister's breast...
> 
> "No," Castiel said softly. "An archangel blade. Lucifer knew he was for the Cage, but he would have wanted to remain an active force in the world at any cost."
> 
> "So the power he gave to Cain was that of his own blade...twisted beyond recognition...thus even in the Cage, his power would still be in the world," Lailah continued...
> 
> "Can't you hear it? Can't you feel it? The seven keys are gathering. The Souls are awakening in the veil. The time we've waited for, the answers Inpu promised us...it's all really happening. It's time, Kiah," he practically yipped...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, you guys, I am so sorry I haven't been able to keep up with my release schedule these past few weeks. Week of Christmas, heh...reeeaally shitty time to get the flu. Still haven't quite managed to shake off the cold. Certainly hope the chapter was worth waiting for.

Even after more than a year of living in the bunker, Sam had to admit he found it strange having a regular morning routine. Except when...Kevin had still been with them...he and Dean hadn't really kept up anything regular. They were probably just too used to the motel life, tailoring their schedules as their hunts required. Nowadays, though, Elaine was in the habit of getting up before all of them and making breakfast. It was actually pretty amazing what she could do with a handful of flour, a cup of milk, and a few dashes of sugar. She was in the kitchen now whipping up some french toast while the rest of the gang prepared for their respective trips.

Merry had gotten wind of a potential case down in Aberdeen, Mississippi, where young women were turning up murdered, all with their eyes scratched out and all with red hair. While Elaine didn't much like the idea of Merry running off to be bait for whatever creature this might be, she knew she couldn't go with her. They had to stay apart when not in the bunker. Thankfully, Dorothy had opted to join Merry on this hunt, stating that it had been too long since she'd been out of the bunker and that she was starting to go stir crazy.

Sam, meanwhile, was pulling some last minute files in preparation for a trip up to Fall River, Massachusetts with Elaine and Hunter. The gunsmith had informed them that she didn't work the spells for the gospels herself. That was done for her by a coven that worked out of Fall River. Hunter figured that if anyone could help them draw the archangel blade's power from the Mark of Cain, it would be the Circle of Moonrise. Granted, Sam hadn't been very _happy_ to learn that Lucifer was _still_ fucking with his life just by existing, but now that Lailah had officially declared Hunter fit for active duty again, they were finally going to start figuring things out.

"Is Hunter ready to go yet?" Elaine asked as she hurried into the library with trays of food. Sam turned to look at her when he heard her nearly drop one.

"Yeah, she's just...grabbing a case of gospels to take with," he said slowly as he watched her set out individual plates. "Are you...all right? You seem kinda flustered."

"Fine, fine, fine," she tried to brush him off. "I'm just anxious to get on the road. Mer and I haven't been up to Fall River in a few months. We're good friends with the Circle of Moonrise," she explained before shoving half a chocolate-soaked slice of french toast into her mouth. Sometimes Sam found himself amazed at just how much food the diminutive hunter could shove into her mouth.

"Mm, yes, just friends. Absolutely nothing more," Crowley commented as he strolled into the library. Sam had honestly given up being surprised at his appearances. There was no telling when Crowley would be in and when he would be out. "Care for some toast with your syrup, love?"

"Fuck off, pops," Elaine snarled without looking at him. "I'd say there's more in the kitchen, but we all know you'll just take one of the plates if you really want it, so knock yourself out. _Please._ "

"Oh, promises, promises, little girl," the demon king said with a sneer before lifting a single syrup-soaked piece of toast from one of the plates.

"Want breakfast or not, Sam?" Elaine asked him, her good mood just on the verge of souring.

"Sure, just a minute," Sam said before turning his attention back to the bookshelf, continuing the hunt for the genealogy report he'd been looking for. He laid a hand on the spine of the old volume just in time for Cas to appear in the library.

"Never late for a meal, as usual," Elaine said, brightening up when the angel sat at the table like an eager puppy.

"She enjoys the food you make," Cas said as he reached for one of the plates.

"Just her?" Elaine teased. "It must be such a struggle to eat a proper breakfast every morning."

"Well, no," Cas said, looking sheepish as he took a bite of french toast. "Only...it makes me happy...when she is happy."

"Oh, that is so sweet," Elaine sighed, and before Crowley could open his mouth, she snapped without looking at him, "Not one damn word."

Crowley rolled his eyes as he shifted to Castiel's side of the table. Why he listened to this girl was beyond him. Oh, how the mighty were fallen.

"Yay, breakfast!" Merry cheered as she and Dorothy entered the library. Her put on cheerfulness cracked briefly when she reached for the plate with strawberry syrup and found only the one piece of toast. "Hey! How come I only get one?"

"You'll have to take that up with the king of cats here," Elaine said, jerking her head in Crowley's direction. Ever since Hunter had taken up the whole 'kitten' thing, the twins had picked up on it, and lord knew why, but he let them go on doing it. "Don't worry. There's more in the kitchen."

"Well, I'll just have to go and get some more, then," Merry said, sticking her tongue out at Crowley as she picked up her plate. He quickly returned the gesture before she disappeared in the direction of the kitchen.

"I make no promises I won't _kill_ your boyfriend when this is all over, Cas," Crowley snarled as he rubbed his temples in frustration.

"And why is that?" the angel asked, glaring at the demon out of the corner of his eye, though the effect was somewhat lessened by the syrup dribbling down his chin.

"What am I reduced to? Name-calling with a bloody _child!_ I haven't stuck my tongue out at someone since the sixties...and that's the _sixteen_ sixties, mind."

"Well, maybe we just bring out the worst in you, _Dad,_ " Elaine returned the snarl, spitting the word like it was the ugliest curse under the sun. "As you're so fond of mentioning, you _did_ create us. So whose fault is it, _really?_ "

"Adding to that, do we really need to remind you who led Dean to the blade in the first place?" Sam asked, not looking up from the book he was flipping through.

"No, you don't, Moosey," the demon said with yet another roll of his eyes. "In fact, I-"

What Crowley had meant to say next, Sam would probably never know. All he knew was that the next sound to overtake the conversation was the very distinct sound of someone throwing up. Quickly spinning around, Sam was greeted by the sight of Cas leaning miserably over in his chair while Crowley just sat perfectly still in his own, contemplating the vomit that now covered his lap.

"You know," Crowley began, addressing the room at large, "I absolutely did _not_ sign up for this. You morons clean up your own mess. I need a spa day." Then he was gone.

"Whoa, Cas," Sam started as he moved toward the table, where Elaine was already moving around to the angel, "I'm sorry you're not feeling well, but you gotta admit...Dean would have loved that."

"Yes...yes, I imagine he would have," Cas groaned, his face pinched in misery as his shoulders trembled. "That was...exceedingly unpleasant."

"Ooh, guess somebody doesn't get to skip out on morning sickness," Hunter said as she and Lailah entered the library, Lailah with a glass of water in hand. While Elaine stroked the angel's back soothingly, Lailah offered him the water.

"Here, drink this."

Cas took the glass from her, clutching it in both hands, just contemplating it for several moments before finally taking a small swallow. "I am...sorry, Elaine."

"Sorry? What are _you_ sorry for? You're the one who's sick."

"It seems rather...hypocritical...to say that we enjoy your food...and then to vomit it back up," Cas said, taking another sip of water.

"Aw, c'mon, man, that's not your fault. It comes with the territory. I'll warm your plate up later when you're feeling up to it."

"Thank you, though...I think maybe I should just return to bed. As much as I enjoyed it earlier, I find that the scent is now turning my stomach," the pregnant angel said before flitting out of the room.

"You gonna be able to handle him?" Sam asked Lailah, taking a bite of french toast before taking the book he was still holding back to the shelf.

"Believe me, I can handle anything these two can dish out. You don't need to worry about us," Lailah said, claiming a plate for herself while Hunter did the same, sitting down next to her.

"You about good to go, Sam?" the gunsmith asked as she tucked into her breakfast.

"Just about. I just need to eat and then we...we're...the hell?" Sam's words slowly trailed off in confusion as he tried to put the book back in place. It wouldn't slide back in quite right and when the hunter shifted aside some of the books to have a look, he found a key sticking out of a small lock at the back of the shelf. Reaching back, he gave the small key a quick turn and the bookshelf immediately pulled back into the wall and slid to the side.

"Okay...this is new," Sam said slowly as he stuck his head into the darkened room behind the shelf.

"Oh, yeah. You didn't even know that was back there?" Dorothy asked, not turning to look, as she was still finishing up her own breakfast.

"Can't say as I did," Sam responded.

"What is it?" Hunter asked as she stood from the table to go and join Sam.

"It's the Men of Letters' top secret music room," the older hunter said with a roll of her eyes.

When the lights finally came up in the secret room, Sam could see that Dorothy was right. A baby grand piano sat in the far corner of the room and the walls were lined with all manner of instruments, some in cases and others on display, such as a very old-looking coronet and an ornate harp. There were even a few bookshelves, all filled with volumes of what was probably sheet music.

"Well, I wouldn't...oh...my..." whatever cynical thing Hunter had been about to say slowly faded away to nothing when she got a good look at what was in the room. A look of awe slowly spread across her face as she wandered inside.

"So...why is it hidden away like this?" Sam called over his shoulder, not wholly able to look away from the tiny smile that was lighting the gunsmith's face.

"Soundproofing," Dorothy answered in a deadpan sort of way. "I'm pretty sure you can imagine how annoying it would be to have to listen in while someone was in there working."

"It does make a kind of sense," Hunter said slowly, reaching for one of the books on the wall and carefully flipping through the old sheet music. "For them to keep a place like this, I mean. Music does have a lot of practical application in spell work and the like." She barely managed to get the music back on the shelf before drifting toward the piano. She ran her fingers over the dusty keys almost reverently. "I've never played one of these before. Mom had an upright at home when I was growing up."

"More than just the guitar under your belt?" Sam asked her, venturing in after her.

"Well, yeah," she said, shaking her head, as if to snap herself out of a revery. "We all have things we'd do if we weren't in the life. Music's my thing," she said, placing her fingers on a certain set of keys and testing out a chord. Hunter winced at the sound the old instrument made. "Oh, yeah. This old girl needs some love. Think it'd be all right if I tuned her up?"

"Don't see why not," Sam said with a shrug and a small smile. "Not like anybody else is even using this room. Actually...if you want it, you can have it to yourself."

"Really?" Hunter asked as she turned to look at him, a similar smile lighting her face.

"Of course. I wouldn't mind seeing what you can do with some of these instruments."

"That...I'd like that," the gunsmith finally managed to get out, her smile becoming shy as she looked away from him.

"If you two want food, you'd better rejoin the world, 'cuz I'm about to just lock you both in," Merry informed them, having emerged from the kitchen with a newly filled plate.

"Yeah, we should probably...finish eating," Sam stuttered.

"Right. Gotta...hit the road," Hunter mumbled as she followed Sam out of the music room. Once they'd gotten out, Sam slid the shelf back into place and locked it. Then he pulled the small key from the lock and handed it to Hunter.

"All yours."

"Thank you," she said quietly, looking at him just out of the corner of her eye as she tucked the key into her pocket.

"Doing it again," Merry pointed out with a giggle.

"Right," Sam started.

"Toast," Hunter finished. As the two finally sat down at the table to properly eat their breakfast, the other four women couldn't help grinning or chuckling in their own way. How long would it be before one of them stopped for another staring contest with a piece of food halfway to their mouth?

XxX

Sam would freely admit he was used to the whole old house alone in the woods business, but this one he now drove up to was a little different than the scenario he was familiar with. The two story house was well kept and cheery looking. A woman was sitting at a table on the large front porch reading a book while two kids played with a gang of plastic dinosaurs. When the two children, a boy and a girl, looked up from their game to see who was emerging from the Jeep, they both jumped up, shouting as they ran to them.

"Hunter!" the girl shouted as she ran to the gunsmith, laughing gleefully as she swept her up in her arms.

"Laney!" the boy shouted as he jumped into Elaine's waiting arms. The elder Serra immediately covered the little boy's face with kisses.

"Ew!" the boy protested, though he didn't try to escape the hug. "No kisses!"

"And why wouldn't I kiss my little man? He's getting so big. Next time I leave and come back, you're going to be all grown up."

"Blech! No way!" the boy protested, sticking his tongue out.

"Hunter, you missed my birthday! I'm six now," the girl said proudly as she snuggled firmly into the woman's embrace. Hunter grunted quietly as she hefted the little girl into a tighter hold.

"I know, little miss. I'm not gonna be able to pick you up much longer. Better enjoy it while we can."

"Who's that?" the boy asked, pointing at Sam, his eyes wide as he looked him up and down.

"Christian, this is Sam. He's a friend of ours. Sam, this is Christian," Hunter introduced.

"It's nice to meet you, Christian," Sam said, not sure if he was supposed to shake the boy's hand or not. Christian made no attempt to, though. He just continued to stare at Sam, eyes wide as dinner plates.

"You're huge," he finally declared. "How did you get so big?"

"Oh, you know...getting enough sleep, drinking milk, eating my green vegetables," he answered with a shrug.

"No way."

"Christian!" the girl shouted. Considering their similar brown eyes, auburn hair, and coffee-colored skin, Sam assumed she was his sister. "That's rude. You're not s'pposed to ask people that."

"And who are you?" Sam asked the girl.

"I'm Abby. I'm six. Christian's my little brother. He's just four. Please excuse him," she said properly with a bob of her head.

"Absolutely," Sam said before going to retrieve their bags from the trunk.

"You want to show us into the house?" Hunter asked Abby as she let her down. Abby nodded happily and immediately darted toward the house with the three hunters following her, Elaine still holding Christian in her arms.

"Hello," the woman greeted them all with a grin as they approached the house. She had the same light coffee-colored skin and brown eyes as the two kids. Her long hair was a slightly darker color, though. Setting her book down, she stood from the table and came forward to give both Elaine and Hunter hugs. "It's good to see you two again. Where's Merry?"

"Working a case down in Mississippi," Elaine answered, letting a wriggling Christian down from her arms.

"Ah. And this must be the famous Sam Winchester," the woman said.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you, Ma'am," Sam said, shifting one of the bags to his other hand so he could reach out to shake hers.

"Alma Stewart," she introduced herself as she returned the handshake. "Of course, you've already met my two little monsters."

"Raargh! Raargh! Raargh!" Christian growled as he picked up a T-rex and ran inside. Abby picked up a pterodactyl before following after him.

"Chris, wait up!"

"Drive was uneventful, I hope?" Alma asked them.

"Very much so," Elaine said.

"Small miracles, I suppose. Circe's been waiting for you," Alma said, leading the way into the house.

The three hunters were led down a hall and into a spacious kitchen area. There was a young woman hard at work at the stove, attending to several skillets of bacon, eggs, and pancakes. While she scurried around, two other women sat at the large kitchen table nursing two small mugs. One was noticeably elderly, but she had aged gracefully. Her long white hair was pulled atop her head in a messy ponytail and her green eyes were warm. Laugh lines crinkled at the corners of her eyes and mouth as she chuckled at something the other woman had said. The second appeared to be younger, with only a few streaks of grey in her short black hair. She was also grinning, but her grey eyes held an edge the older woman's gaze lacked. The pair noticed them immediately.

"Hello, Hunter, Elaine, Sam," the older woman greeted. When the young woman heard her speak, she spun around.

"Elaine!" she shouted, her blue eyes sparkling with a joy Sam had only seen a handful of times in his life. The loose bun her hair had been pinned in came undone as she rushed forward to hug Elaine and a mess of brown curls spilled down her back. Elaine returned the hug just as enthusiastically, and as she held the other woman, Sam saw yet another look he was familiar with.

Longing.

"It's been way too long, Rachael," Elaine said, and if Sam didn't know better, he would almost say she was inhaling the scent of her hair.

"You're early," Rachael whined quietly as she pulled away from Elaine. "Breakfast isn't ready yet. I...I wanted to cook for you."

"I'm...sure it'll be delicious," Elaine said with a small blush.

"It's all right, Rachael. We've got plenty to talk about while you finish cooking," the old woman reassured her. "Would anyone like some tea?"

"Sure," they all responded.

"Well, have a seat. Alma can take your bags to the guest rooms and I'll get you some mugs," the other woman said. Once Sam made sure Alma could handle the bags, he joined the others at the table. The old woman smiled faintly at him the entire time.

"We all know who you are of course, Sam Winchester, but I suppose we have you at a disadvantage. I am Circe Jones. I am the high priestess of this coven," the old woman finally introduced herself. Sam reached across the table to shake her hand.

"Hunter told me. It's an honor to meet you, Ma'am."

"You as well, young Winchester. The woman at the stove is Rachael Wick."

"Hi!" Rachael called out, waving briefly before getting right back to the bacon.

"And this is my niece, Weaver McKenna," Circe introduced the other woman as she set a steaming mug of tea in front of each of them.

"A pleasure," Sam said, shaking Weaver's hand before she sat back down beside her aunt. He inhaled the scent of chai before taking a grateful sip of the tea. It had been a long drive. "So...did Hunter tell you what's been happening?"

"No need. We know what's been happening. I keep my eye on things and if there's anything I can do to help, I'll do my best. Ever since your brother was raised from Hell, though, it's all been a little above my pay grade," Circe said with a weary smile. "We help where we can."

"There might be a way for you to help now, Circe. Have you ever heard of the First Blade?" Hunter asked her. When she heard the words, Circe's expression immediately went dark.

"I have. I've even had the, ah...pleasure...of a run in with Cain. I understand the Mark is the cause of it all."

"Yes. We've recently discovered some new information, though...about the Mark's true identity."

"An archangel blade," Weaver said quietly, her gaze shifting among the three of them.

"That's why it's the only thing that can kill a Knight of Hell, and this mystery number five everyone's been talking about. It's the only weapon of its kind still in existence on this plane. If we can harness its power, we might be able to get rid of this angel before she has a chance to hurt Castiel's kid," Hunter explained.

"Well...short of grinding Dean Winchester up into powder and adding him to the spell, I know of no way to harness the Mark's power. I take it that's not on the table," the old witch said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, no. That we actively try to avoid...y'know, for all the good it does us," Sam said with a small wince. As much as they tried to avoid violent death, it always did seem to find them...many times over.

"Certainly. It seems to me I'll have to go to the man himself to get the information we need."

"What? Do you mean...Cain?" Sam asked her.

"Just what I mean. It will take a fair amount of doing, though...as to find someone who doesn't want to be found."

"That would be why we came to the best," Hunter said with a grin.

"Flattery won't finish the task any faster for the speaking, my girl," Circe said with a wry grin and a shake of her head. "It seems to me we would do better to have some breakfast before we get to the spell work. I believe we're nearly ready now."

"Yes, we are," Rachael said proudly as she flipped one last pancake from the skillet and onto an already sizable stack. That done, she pulled down several stacks of plates from one of the cabinets before heading toward the hall and calling out, "BREAKFAST!"

An immediate clatter sounded overhead at the call. Within moments, Abby and Christian were stampeding into the kitchen with their mother trailing behind, an exhausted smile on her face.

"Pancakes! Pancakes! Yay, pancakes!" Christian shouted as he crashed into Rachael, who laughed as she seized him in her arms.

"Somebody's wound up this morning."

"Christian, what do we say?" Alma asked him.

"Thank you for pancakes, Rachael!" the little boy half-sang.

"Thank you," Abby added, only just tall enough to retrieve a plate of her own from the countertop.

"And the daily stampede begins," Circe said with a laugh as she stood from the table. "The others will be down before too long. You had best get some food before our little Christian eats it all."

Taking the advice to heart, Sam followed Elaine and Hunter over to stove and loaded up a plate. That done, he sat back at the table with them and watched 'the others' troop into the kitchen.

The first was a boy who couldn't have been any older than Kevin was. He was about average in height and the brown curls that fell into his eyes nearly concealed the fact that they were blue. He eyed the three newcomers nervously for a moment before filling himself a plate and sitting down at the table.

The second was a woman probably closer to Dean's age. Her skin was a deep chocolate brown color and her hair was jet black, done up in cornrows on the top of her head while the rest burst out in a mass of curls, not contained in any way. In a way, her expression almost reminded Sam of Dean, too: ready for either a good time or to kill anything that moved. It all depended on how the wind shifted.

The last was a man Sam would have guessed to be maybe a little older than Dean, only a few inches shorter than his older brother. Where the boy had very pale skin, this man had more of a tanned tone. He was very well muscled and his shaggy blond hair fell to the tops of his shoulders. One green eye and one brown eye glared out of his face as he surveyed the three of them. He grunted a 'hello' to Hunter and Elaine before fixing himself a plate and heading back out of the kitchen.

"Don't mind Atreus, Sam. He'll be sociable when he feels like it," Weaver informed him around a mouthful of bacon.

"Atreus?" Sam clarified.

"Yes, anyone who enters the Circle of Moonrise is permitted to choose their own name. Being fully self-actualized is an important part of learning spell craft. Atreus Saint-Clair is the name he chose for himself," Circe explained.

"So that's...Atreus like the myth? The Bloody House of Atreus?" Sam clarified again.

"I know of no other," the high priestess said by way of answer.

"That's...a very interesting choice," Sam said slowly before beginning to munch on his eggs. With a choice like that, there was definitely some sort of history there.

"Well, when you get to pick for yourself, you're definitely not gonna go with Ann," the new woman said, reaching her hand across the table to shake Sam's. "Name's Sekhmet Walker."

"Sam Winchester," he returned.

"The wallflower's Kestrel Markus," Sekhmet introduced for the boy when he remained silent. "He's new."

"Hi," Kestrel said, barely looking up from his food.

"Good to meet you both," Sam said, gaze lingering on Kestrel a moment before getting himself to ask, "So how many of you live here?"

"The only one you haven't met yet is my husband, Will, but he leaves for work very early," Alma answered. "We're a small circle, so we've got to take care of each other."

"Though, I suppose now that we're mostly here, Hunter ought to be able to share the _good_ news she has," Circe said, looking expectantly at the gunsmith, who just looked confused for a moment before finally realizing what she meant.

"Oh, that. Well...looks like I'm going to be a mom sometime in March."

For a moment, it didn't seem to sink in, but then Rachael burst out with, "Oh, my God, Hunt, that's amazing!"

"Congrats, lady," Sekhmet put in.

"Who's the lucky fellow? This one perhaps?" Alma asked, glancing in Sam's direction.

"Oh- no," Sam choked out after nearly inhaling a mouthful of bacon. "No, no, no. We've...only known each other about a month."

"Must have been an interesting month, judging by that blush," Sekhmet teased.

"It was Leigh," Hunter answered, immediately killing the playful attitude in the room.

"Really? I- I didn't realize you two...had a thing," Rachael said slowly.

"We didn't," the gunsmith said plainly as she violently chopped up her pancakes. "It was one night. A kid got killed by a werewolf and Leigh was...he was in bad shape over it. He needed somebody. Then the idiot had to up and _die_ on me."

"So...you don't know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Alma asked, trying to steer the conversation in a less tense direction.

"No idea. Could even be both. It's twins."

"And how do you know that already?" Alma continued.

"The...angel of conception told me," Hunter said with a nod. "Somehow I think she might just know what she's talking about. Though...I suppose she could tell me if I asked. She knows the gender of Cas' kid already."

"Well, I might just have to go and have a chat with her myself then," Alma said with a self-satisfied smile, and when Hunter realized what that meant, she began to smile faintly herself.

"Got another one in the oven?"

"That I do. At about four months now, so this little one will really be starting to show in the next few weeks here," Alma said, patting her belly gently.

"It's gonna be a baby brother," Christian insisted, banging his fork against the table.

"You don't know that!" Abby argued, sticking her tongue out at him. "It could be a baby sister. Besides, I'm gonna know before you do."

"There's no guarantee of that, Abby. Drink your orange juice," Alma advised serenely as she took a sip of her tea.

"I'm sorry...guarantee?" Sam repeated.

"Yes. Abby, she...she can see things before they happen...but there's no telling what she might see or when," Alma explained.

"Oh," Sam said softly, forcing back the memory of his own stint with such an ability. God, if Abby experienced some of the things _he_ had..."What sorts of things do you see, Abby?" he asked her.

"Lots'a stuff," the little girl answered, idly pushing a piece of bacon around in the syrup that remained on her plate. "I saw Rachael burning pizza once. And I saw Atreus set a river on fire. Saw Kestrel get beat up. Saw Chris fall out of bed. I saw you talkin' to the wolf people."

"Hold up. What was that? Wolf people?"

"Ah, yes. That," Circe said matter-of-factly. "I had hoped to ease into that, but we've had some visitors to our town recently. A pair of jackals. They've been spotted in town and in the woods. Abby had a vision several weeks ago. It seems they've come to speak with you and Hunter. We've tried, but they will not speak with us. It seems they've been waiting for you to come."

"So...jackals? Wolf people? I mean...what _are_ these guys?" Sam asked

"I could not say exactly. They were human once, I would guess, but the magic they are possessed of is very ancient. They are not monsters, if that's what you're fearing."

"Well...that is what one tends to worry about when hearing about _wolf_ people," Sam said.

"The best I can glean from them is that they are servants. I could not guess whom of, but they mean you no harm. If you wish, you might go and speak with them once we've finished eating."

"Harm or no harm, I am definitely not going into the woods unarmed," Sam said before finishing off his tea.

"Amen to that," Hunter said as she nicked the last piece of bacon from his plate, and Sam was just too happy to see her doing it to even be angry about the fact that she'd stolen it from him.

XxX

Sam and Hunter were armed to the teeth and ready to go just as soon as the breakfast dishes were all cleaned up. Elaine had offered to join, but Circe advised against it, stating it was only the two of them these beings wanted to speak to. It wasn't too big of a deal, though, as the elder Serra seemed quite content to stay behind and catch up with Rachael.

"So...Elaine and Rachael," Sam started once the two of them were out of sight of the house. "They seem..."

"Ready to tear each other's clothes off and fuck like bunnies, don't care who knows it?" Hunter finished, grinning wryly as they moved through the trees.

"Pretty much."

"Yeah, those two have been like that ever since I've known them. You may not know this, but Elaine did her foster care stint here in Fall River. She and Rachael met up, became friends, and they've been dancing around each other ever since. Mer and I keep pushing, but...yeah, no dice. Elaine isn't usually shy about her interests, but Rachael was the only friend she had for a good while and I guess she doesn't want to risk that bond, despite how obvious it is that Rachael would run away with her in a heartbeat. Sound like anyone you know?" Hunter asked with a sigh, and Sam sighed right along with her, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

"So how did _you_ meet up with these guys?" he asked her after several minutes had passed.

"Ah...well, my folks were good friends with Circe. I was only sixteen when they were killed in the Packwood Takedown. I lived here for a few years before setting up shop in Remington. Circe still likes to keep an eye on me...favor to my parents, I guess. She even gave me a charm," Hunter said, lifting up the slender length of leather thong around her neck to reveal the small circular pendant that hung from it. Some sort of script Sam couldn't make out was etched into the silver. He'd seen her wearing the pendant, but he'd never commented on it before.

"And are they all actual witches or are most of them just Wiccans?" Sam continued to ask.

"It's a pretty even split. Kestrel's a Wiccan. So are Alma and Will, but Abby has actual abilities, so they find it safer to live among the Circle. Rachael started off as just a Wiccan, but she's been learning to generate spirit forms. The others, though, they all have natural abilities...things they were born with, I mean."

"Such as...?"

"Sekhmet was born human, so she isn't a skinwalker, but she was born with the ability to shift into animal forms. I promise she isn't a monster; she's in complete control when she shifts. We have yet to find another person with this exact ability, though."

"And the others?" Sam pressed.

"I'm not...really sure how to explain Atreus' ability. You'd have to see it for yourself. He can...reopen old wounds. He makes people bleed," she said, a disquiet look coming to her eyes.

"So? Pretty much anybody who's even remotely connected to this life could say the same," Sam pointed out, even though he could tell this was different by the look in Hunter's eyes.

"Like I said...you'll have to see it for yourself."

"And...Circe and Weaver?"

"Weaver's a psychic. She doesn't like to broadcast it. She learned to keep quiet at a time when speaking up could get you killed."

"What does that mean?"

"Circe and Weaver...they're the leaders. They're very powerful. I don't know how long they've been around exactly, but they've seen a lot. At this point, I think they're in it to help people who need helping."

"Well, if that's true, then it's great," Sam said, not quite looking at her as they continued their trek.

"What? You don't trust them?"

"In my experience, witches who want to help are more the exception than the rule," he said quietly, remembering no shortage of nasty hex bags he and Dean had run afoul of.

"Well, if you can't trust them...can you at least trust _me?_ " Hunter asked him, coming to a stop in the middle of the path.

Sam came to a stop a few paces ahead of her, not looking back at her for several moments. Did he trust her? He shouldn't. For both their sakes, he shouldn't let her into his life...and she shouldn't let him into hers...but for some stupid, dangerous reason, neither of them seemed to be listening to their better instincts. Smiling sadly, he finally turned to her. "Yeah...I think I can do that."

"Good," Hunter said, and for a strangely peaceful moment they just stood smiling at each other, but that moment was interrupted by a shifting of rocks on the ground. Hunter's eyes widened and she gasped. "Sam!"

Sam immediately spun around, seeing two black-furred jackals emerge onto the path. Instinctively, his hand went to his gun, but he didn't draw it. For several tense moments, the two pairs just stared at each other, each seizing the other up.

"Hello," Sam said after a time. "My name is Sam Winchester. This is Hunter Silver. We were told you wanted to speak with us."

For another long moment, the two jackals just stared at them. Their eyes were unlike any wolf Sam had ever seen before. With skin walkers it was easy for them to pass as true canines, but these two...there was unmistakable intelligence in their eyes...and as Sam watched, the wolfish faces that framed them began to change. The black fur receded, leaving behind light coffee-colored skin and sleek black hair. Canine joints crunched and reformed into human forms and before too long, a man and a woman were standing across from them. The woman wore a black halter top and paneled skirt and the man wore only a pair of black jeans. Around their necks were two crystal pendants that Sam at first thought were crosses, but that he soon recognized to be ankhs.

"You are Sam Winchester?" the man repeated.

"The one and only," he answered with a shrug.

"And you are Hunter Silver?" the woman asked the gunsmith.

"Ditto," Hunter replied, moving to stand at Sam's side.

"Now...we kind of have a lot going on, so...what is it you want to speak to us about?" Sam continued.

"We are aware of the present situation. We come to you now because...because we are the same," the man said, looking confused as he spoke, and Sam was no less confused.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know of a better way to explain it. My memory isn't fully intact. Maybe a better place to begin would be with names. I am called Tekhenu, but most call me Tek, and this woman is my mate, Kiah," Tek introduced.

"You aren't skinwalkers," Hunter said decisively. "So what are you?"

"We're servants," Kiah answered.

"That doesn't help so much with the whole what thing. Servant is a function, not a state of being. If you aren't human, you're something else. What is that something?" Hunter pressed.

"That _is_ the something. We were human once...a very long time ago...but we gave ourselves in service to our master. We _are_ servants," Tek explained.

"Servants of _who_ , then? Who's your master?" Sam asked.

"He is the Embalmer. He is Foremost of the Westerners. He is Guardian of the Scales. He is guide and protector. He is the son of compassion and he is the one who remains after all hope is gone," Kiah claimed proudly.

"All fine titles, I'm sure, but they're still not names," Hunter pointed out.

"He has many. You might know him by a different name, but the one we call him is Inpu. We've served him faithfully for five thousand years," Tek said.

"Five _thousand?_ " Sam repeated, eyes widening.

"Shoot, hope the retirement plan's good," Hunter muttered.

"That is the hope," Kiah said with a slight smile. "He's had many servants through the ages, but they've all gone to their rest now...all except us."

"And why is that?" Sam asked.

"We aren't...really sure," Tek answered after a moment of pained silence. "We only know that we swore this oath all those centuries ago so that we could escape death. We _had_ to survive to the present age."

"Why?" Hunter asked.

"To witness the coming of the Rose of Sharon," Kiah answered solemnly, and at her words, Sam and Hunter shared a concerned look.

"How do you know about her?"

"We don't know," Tek repeated with a pained look. "We only know that we have to help. We don't know what, but something happened a very long time ago...and it's about to happen again. We won't let it," he said firmly.

"And you have no idea what that something is?" Sam asked, still uncertain whether to trust the pair or not. There was no telling if the event they were to prevent was the baby's death...or its birth.

"No. All we know is that there are seven keys. These keys will unlock the gates of memory," Kiah told them. "I don't know what they are, but I can tell you that two of the keys are standing before us."

Again, Sam and Hunter looked at each other. Sam had told Hunter about Crowley's theory of her trust being the fifth item, but...a second key? Which one could it be? Did it somehow mean that... _Sam_ was one of the keys? Which one?

Shaking off the sudden worry, Sam turned his attention back to the two servants. "I'm not sure how, but you two seem to know about the ritual. Does the name Israfil mean anything to either of you?"

Both sets of brown eyes widened at this. The pair turned to look at each other at this, sharing a similar glance of concern.

"It's strange. My mind says no..." Tek began.

"...but my heart tells a different story," Kiah finished, her hand finding its way to her heart...as if something had hurt her. "I don't know why, but there's _pain_ in that name."

"Yeah," Sam said quietly. "That seems to be the general consensus on this one. Well, if that's all you've got for us, we should probably be getting back."

"We haven't given you reason to trust us yet," Tek said.

"Not really, no," Hunter agreed.

"We understand. I believe we'll be able to prove it to you with time. Just know that if you ever need us, you have only to call out," Kiah told them.

"You should also be aware that ours aren't the only eyes watching you," Tek warned them before he and Kiah turned and began to walk back into the woods. As they moved, Sam happened to notice a strange set of symbols tattooed into their backs. Just before they began their shift back to jackal form, Sam whipped out his phone and snapped a quick picture of the twin images. Then, almost in the blink of an eye, they were jackals again, and when they turned to face them one last time, Sam noticed something he hadn't before. On their chests were two very distinct white blazes of fur, almost in the shape of ankhs...just like the pendants they'd been wearing. Then, just as suddenly as they'd appeared, they were gone.

"Well," Hunter started with a loud crack of her neck, "nothing like a healthy dose of paranoia to help settle your breakfast."

"What do you suppose any of that meant?"

"I dunno, but this whole business just keeps getting screwier and screwier. We should probably talk to Circe about losing whatever tail they were talking about."

"Yeah...right," Sam said slowly as they started to head back. If what they'd said was true, then Sam was either off his game or they had something majorly bad on their trail.

XxX

"Never did much like this whole bait hunting business," Dorothy commented as she leaned back against the tree she was sitting in. Merry wanted it to appear like she was alone, so she'd insisted on Dorothy waiting it out in the tree while she parked herself on the bench below it.

"Well, maybe you don't, but some of us prefer to use what we have. Don't forget, this is _my_ hunt, sweetheart," Merry reminded her as she gave her hair a significant toss, making sure the red strands were visible in the slight breeze. They were just starting to lose the last few rays of sunlight. They hadn't had any leads so far on what their target might be, so Merry had decided to see if they could draw the creature out into the open just by dangling her in front of it. They'd had no luck so far, but Merry was hopeful for after dark.

"Yeah, and I'm the one who volunteered to back you up."

"If you've got any better ideas, let's hear 'em. Seems to me this is better than waiting around for another innocent woman to get killed."

Dorothy sighed. "Yeah...maybe you're right. Guess I can be grateful for the fact it's not both of you out here. I might just go crazy if I had to watch even one more redhead do something stupid and get hurt."

"Hey...you and Charlie...what was going on between the two of you anyway?" Merry found herself asking before she could stop.

"Oh, now that's just none of your business, kid," Dorothy grated. She didn't want to talk about what was or was not between her and Charlie Bradbury because even _she_ wasn't sure anymore.

"Well, that hurts my feelings, Dorothy," a painfully familiar voice suddenly jumped into their conversation. Both their heads snapped up to behold Charlie approaching them through the evening mist that covered the park. "Why wouldn't you want to talk about me? I thought we had something special."

Dorothy immediately leapt down from the tree, landing beside Merry as she jumped up from the bench. Both had their guns drawn in a heartbeat.

" _Charlie_ and I had something. You've got no right to talk, you demon bitch!" Dorothy snapped at the enemy who wore the face of the only woman she'd ever cared anything for.

"I'm still Charlie, though, hon. I'm not just some random demon riding her ass while she's still in here with me... _screaming_. No...I _am_ her, and I like the way things are now. I would've thought you did, too...given what we _did_ after Dean turned me," Charlie said, continuing to draw closer to them.

"Dorothy?" Merry asked uncertainly, her gaze flickering between the two women for a moment.

"Shut up!" the hunter out of time snarled at both of them. "Don't you _dare_ try to claim I consented to that. I was _tied up!_ "

"Mm, yes...maybe at first you didn't consent, but you _liked it._ You _know_ you did," the demon hissed as she licked her lips...and for Dorothy, the motion of her tongue immediately brought back to mind the way it had felt...that mouth pressed passionately against her clit while she writhed beneath it.

" _Stop it!_ " Dorothy shouted, feeling fear start to creep in around the edges of her calm. She kept her gun aimed at Charlie, but her hands were starting to shake. Charlie just laughed.

"Let's not play games here, Dorothy. You aren't going to shoot me and you know it," she said, and while Dorothy continued to hesitate, Charlie used her power to slam Merry back against the tree, keeping her pinned there.

"You," Merry choked out as she struggled against the demonic hold. "It was you. _You_ killed all those girls."

"Yeah, it was me," Charlie said with a chuckle, coming to a stop just inches from the quivering muzzle of Dorothy's pistol. "I figured if I just kept at it long enough one of you would notice and come down to investigate. Guess I was right."

"What do you want?" Merry demanded as best she could.

"It's very simple," Charlie said as she took hold of Dorothy's gun and slowly forced her to lower it, sneering at her all the while. "Dean wants the First Blade back. Where is it?"

"We...we don't have it," Dorothy said, feeling herself on the verge of a complete breakdown. This was the first time she'd seen Charlie since...since it happened.

"I never imagined you did, but you _do_ know where it is. I'm betting the angel has it, so why don't you give him a call."

"What'll you do...if we don't?" Merry pressed.

"Mm...maybe we'll go find your sister...have ourselves a nice repeat of that hot little menage a trois we had last year. That was fun, wasn't it?" she asked, glancing over Dorothy's shoulder at Merry. "Only I think there'll be more knives involved this time."

"Don't you touch...my sister!" Merry growled.

"You know what? I've got a better idea," Charlie said as she easily slipped the gun from Dorothy's hands and walked past her, leaving her standing there, frozen. Then she moved toward Merry, pressing the gun to her temple as she turned back to Dorothy. "Dorothy... _you_ call him...or I'll blow her precious brains all over the park."

"Dorothy, don't!" Merry pleaded with her. "Don't do it."

"Do it _now._ "

"If Cas comes...she'll call Dean. You _can't!_ "

Under any other circumstances imaginable, Dorothy wouldn't have done it. She wouldn't have given in; but it seemed that every skill, every trick she'd ever learned in her life, had utterly deserted her in this moment. She was trapped with no way out.

_Castiel...can you hear me?_ she prayed silently.

XxX

Cas had been asleep when he heard Dorothy's prayer, but the moment he became aware of it, he was awake instantly.

_Castiel, I don't know if you can hear me, but Charlie's here. She wants the First Blade. If you don't come...she's going to kill Merry._

"I'm coming," he said quietly without even a second thought, but before he could take wing, Lailah was standing in his doorway, looking almost angry.

"Don't," she ordered firmly.

"Lailah-"

"Don't go out there. Not on your own. Not again. You might not get so lucky this time. I know you don't care about your own, but how many times are you going to risk your daughter's life?"

"If I don't go, they will die. They _need_ me," he argued with her. "I _have_ to go."

"If you're going, you're not going alone. You're not leaving me here this time. Heal my wings."

"What?"

"I said heal my wings!" she snapped at him. "I'm going to make sure you're looked after this time. None of the others can do that. I know you would prefer me to be safe, but this is my _purpose._ Let me fulfill it. Let me protect my child. Let me _be_ a _mother._ "

Castiel stared at her for several long moments before finally nodding his consent. He hadn't offered before because he wasn't sure what the effects might be, but if it was what she wanted, he would grant it. Standing from his bed, he held his hand out to her.

"Give me your hand."

When she did, Castiel could feel the now familiar energy swirling within his being, harmonizing between himself and his daughter before it passed to Lailah. He could see the agony in both her forms as the cosmic energy blistered her spirit with its fire and that strange chorus of Heaven and Hell finally reached its crescendo when the power burst from her body as a magnificent set of newborn wings. Lailah collapsed into his arms with a final cry of pain.

These wings were different from his. Where his new wings were plainly equal parts dark and divine, Lailah's were holy light with only a hint of dark fire at their core. Whatever it meant, though, Lailah would at least be able to fly once again.

"Will you be able to handle a short flight?" he asked her.

"Yes...I'll be fine," she said, though her form still trembled slightly as she stood on her own. "We need to go."

Faster than the speed of a thought, the two angels were gone. However, when they appeared in Aberdeen, Mississippi, a ring of holy oil immediately ignited around them. Glaring, Cas focused his attention on Charlie, who was already circling them. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Merry and Dorothy pinned to a nearby tree.

"What is it you want, Charlie?" he asked her.

"I'm betting you already know, feathers. Dean wants the First Blade back."

"Well, as you can see, we don't have it. I have no intention of telling you where it is."

"Then I think you can guess what's going to happen here," she started as she drifted away from the circle. "I'm just gonna cut on these two until you tell me what I want to hear."

"Cas, I really hope you're not that stupid," Merry groaned, a very distinct bruise already marring the left side of her face. "We've had enough stupidity here for one night."

"You realize we can resurrect them...if it comes to that," Cas said, the last part only slightly hesitant. With the world as upside down as it already was, he didn't want to take the risk of any of his friends being dead for even a moment.

"Yeah, I know, but you know what the trouble with you good guys is?" Charlie asked as she pulled out a knife, using it to cut open the front of Dorothy's shirt. "You just can't stand to watch other people in pain. I predict you'll break a long time before I need to go that far." With that, Charlie started to carve a thin line from the waistline of Dorothy's pants up to just between her breasts.

"Castiel," Dorothy hissed, fighting to hold back her pain. "This is my fault. I deserve this. Whatever you do, don't listen to her."

"I could do this all night, Cas," Charlie warned him as she continued to carve lines in Dorothy's skin. "What's it gonna be, angel boy?"

"There may be something I can do about this," Castiel whispered to Lailah. "But you'll need to be ready. Are you prepared to step in if it should go wrong?"

"I am, but...Castiel...I'm not certain how many times you can risk doing this without harm to yourself or the child."

"I have to try," Cas said, focusing on the ring of holy fire that surrounded them. Connecting to the barely conscious energy that was his daughter, he wished for what it was he needed.

_We need to erase this barrier. Please help me._

Cas didn't even really need to finish the thought. It took only a moment for the energy to resonate between them. When it had reached its peak, he was able to sweep away the circle with ease...but just as soon as it was done, he felt the energy drain right out of him, revealing just how difficult the feat had actually been.

The angel collapsed, falling to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He had only a moment more of consciousness to hear Merry cry out his name before he was completely gone.

XxX

Dean, meanwhile, was sitting in a high end hotel suite somewhere in New York, swigging a beer while he waited on the results of his little gamble. When he felt the energy start to drain from his body, he sneered, finishing up the bottle before going to collapse on the bed.

"Knew you couldn't resist tryin' to help people, little angel," he growled in pleasure just before losing consciousness himself.

XxX

_Dean comes to with a groan and a shake of his head. The last thing he remembers is shouting at Cas...and when he sees what he's woken up to, he would almost prefer that._

_He's not sure where they are. All he can see is Cas, unconscious and nailed to a cross. His body trembles with every breath he fights to take._

_"Cas!" he shouts, trying to run forward, to reach him,_ _**anything** _ _to stop this from happening...but just like before, he finds himself stopped. He can't get any closer_

_"Dean..." Cas calls out weakly, as if in a nightmare._

_"Cas, I'm here! I'm_ _**right here!** _ _" he shouts, pounding his fists against whatever it is that's keeping them apart. "Just hold on!"_

_"Dean..." Cas whispers, his strength clearly fading. Dean can't see what does it, but something pierces the angel's side and his eyes open briefly as he screams in pain._

_"_ _**Cas!** _ _" he cries out, fists pounding desperately against the invisible barrier. There has to be_ _**something** _ _he can do to stop this!_

_"_ _**You** _ _did this to him," a voice that sounds strangely like his own hisses in his ear. "Castiel is suffering right now, and it's all because of you. I know you've tried to tell yourself different, but the truth is...you were right in the first place. You_ _**poison** _ _everything you touch. Everything you love turns to ash because of you. Nothing that comes from you can ever be any good. Because of you, Castiel will be_ _**destroyed!** _ _"_

_"_ _**No! NO!** _ _" he screams. "_ _**CAS!** _ _"_

_"Dean!" Cas cries out, body twisting in agony. "Please...save me!"_

_"Cas," he whispers in anguish as he falls to his knees, hands pressed uselessly against the unseen surface while the angel's screams fill his ears._

_"This is your punishment, Dean," the voice taunts him once again. "This is your Hell."_


	10. Maddened by the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "Ah, yes. That," Circe said matter-of-factly. "I had hoped to ease into that, but we've had some visitors to our town recently. A pair of jackals. They've been spotted in town and in the woods. Abby had a vision several weeks ago. It seems they've come to speak with you and Hunter. We've tried, but they will not speak with us. It seems they've been waiting for you to come."...
> 
> "We aren't...really sure," Tek answered after a moment of pained silence. "We only know that we swore this oath all those centuries ago so that we could escape death. We had to survive to the present age."...
> 
> "We understand. I believe we'll be able to prove it to you with time. Just know that if you ever need us, you have only to call out," Kiah told them...
> 
> "Castiel is suffering right now, and it's all because of you. I know you've tried to tell yourself different, but the truth is...you were right in the first place. You poison everything you touch. Everything you love turns to ash. Nothing that comes from you can ever be any good. Because of you, Castiel will be destroyed!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry these updates are starting to take so much longer. Thank you to those of you who are sticking with me. I'll try and get these out quicker. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter. We are just on the verge of something you have all been very much looking forward to. *evil grin*

Crowley was almost surprised that the two angels left him alone in the bunker. He knew it wasn't a matter of trust. None of them trusted him and they were right not to. He certainly didn't trust any of them...or at least, he didn't _want_ to. It was sometimes difficult to argue with the traces of addiction still lingering in him. However, the fact that the angels had left the bunker in his care probably had more to do with the panicked manner in which they'd taken off than anything else, and this was mostly confirmed by the similar manner in which they returned.

Lailah landed in the library with Dorothy and Merry clinging to her shoulders and an unconscious Castiel in her arms.

"Oh, look. Another wild night out on the town," he snarked at the bedraggled band of warriors as he kicked his feet up on the table he was sitting at. "What _have_ we been up to this time, darlings?"

"No bullshit right now, Crowley. We've kind of just been had by a Knight of Hell," Merry said as she led a shell-shocked Dorothy out of the room. Lailah soon headed out herself, probably to put Castiel to bed, and when Crowley poofed over to the angel's room, he found himself not wrong. Lailah was laying him down on his bed, making sure he was comfortable.

"Seriously, angel cakes, what happened out there?" he asked her.

"I think it was a set up," Lailah explained without looking at him. "Charlie had them and we went to help. She tried to trap us, but Castiel was able to erase the holy fire. It was too much, though...he passed out. Charlie disappeared the moment he was unconscious. The only thing I can't understand...is why Dean would want to knock him out intentionally if he knows it will also take him down."

"Seems to me it would behoove our Deanmon to learn whether or not Cas _could_ be contained with holy fire. A short nap is hardly an exorbitant price to pay for information like that. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine."

XxX

Lailah had healed both Merry and Dorothy before bringing the group back to the bunker, so there were no wounds to see to when Merry led Dorothy to the room she was occupying. When Merry sat down on her bed, she pulled Dorothy down beside her, gently but firmly.

"You okay?" Merry asked, trying to get the other hunter to look her in the eyes.

"Merry, I'm fine; it...it's nothing," she said, trying to pull herself away without success.

"That's the biggest load of bull I've ever heard. You _froze_ back there. What happened with you and Charlie?"

"Merry, really, it's not-"

"No, it really is. What did she do to you?" Merry pressed.

"That's just it. I don't think you can call it rape...if you wanted it," Dorothy hissed. "The only thing is...I can't know if _she_ did. If anyone was raped that day, it was Charlie. I can't know if the demon was telling me the truth when she said she's wanted me this whole time. I just...I don't know."

"Okay...I get it. I see," Merry said quietly as she rested a hand on Dorothy's shoulder. "Would it help at all for you to not go out on cases? We don't know when we're going to run into them."

"No," Dorothy said right away, shaking her head. "That's not going to help anything. I just...need to work through it. Feel free to slap me if I freeze in the field again."

"Nah, I don't know about slapping. If I can, I'll give you a good shake, though," she said as she pulled her into a sort of sideways hug.

"Right. I'll remember that," Dorothy said, not quite hugging back, but not pushing Merry away, either.

XxX

While Sam had gotten used to seeing Crowley around the bunker, it was a little jarring to see him suddenly appear in Circe Jones' kitchen. The knee jerk reaction was to reach for his gun, to which the demon king's response was to shake his head in apparent disappointment.

"Really, Moose? And after we've been through so much together. Guess I've wasted my time coming all the way up here to bring you the news."

"What? What's happened?" he asked as he, Hunter, and Elaine slowly lowered the weapons they'd drawn. The other three still sitting at the table with them, Rachael, Atreus, and Sekhmet, relaxed only slightly.

"Oh, nothing. Your little angel just went and got himself knocked out a second time. The other knight set a trap for Merry and Dorothy and he had to go spring them. Blew away a circle of holy fire like it was nothing, but it looks like that kind of trick was just a little too much for Cas to handle. He's out cold again."

"But nobody else got hurt?" Elaine asked, looking worried.

"Nothing a little normal angel mojo couldn't take care of."

"Hey, Crowley, while we've got you here, you don't happen to read ancient Egyptian, do you?" Sam asked, picking up a printout of the image from his phone.

"Yes. Why?" Crowley asked.

"I know these are hieroglyphs, but it looks like they're pretty old. We haven't been able to translate them. Think you could read them for us?"

"What am I now? Your bloody reference text?"

"You'd stand to gain just as much by learning what these two jackals are. I'm sure the tail you put on us would love to know the answer, too."

"You accuse me of-"

"Accuse? No," Sam interrupted him. "We _know_ you've got somebody tailing us. No accusations involved. So...wanna give us a hand here?"

Crowley rolled his eyes before coming to take the the printout from him. "Fine, fine, fine. It says 'My bones are strong, my flesh is resilient, and my heart is true. I will show compassion to all who come to me and I will guide every lost soul through the darkness. I will go as others have need of me unto the final breaking of the world. I am, now and for all eternity, a servant of Anubis.' Satisfied?"

"Anubis?" Hunter repeated. "Like... _the_ Anubis? The god of mummification?"

"I imagine so. Do you know of many other jackal-headed gods?" Crowley asked her.

"But...why would they call him Inpu?" Elaine asked.

"Maybe because that's what his _name_ is. That's what it says in the hieroglyphs; I just thought I'd go with a name you idiots might actually know. The word Anubis is Greek, not Egyptian, thank you very much."

"Another pagan god," Sam said quietly. "Now I _really_ don't know whether or not those two can be trusted. I've never met a god who was particularly partial to humans."

"Well, it's not every day gods go around passing out immortality to humans. This one might have something going for him," Hunter speculated.

Crowley might have said something else, but he fell completely still and silent when Circe and Weaver entered the kitchen.

" _You,_ " the king of Hell snarled, eyes narrowing.

"Hello, Fergus," Circe returned calmly. "It's been a long time."

"Not long enough. And the name's Crowley, if you don't mind," he snapped at her.

"Whatever makes you happy," the old witch said, moving around him to start making herself a cup of tea. "Can I get you anything?"

"Yeah. Your head on a plate and the rest of your body cut into a thousand pieces."

"Mm, no. I think we're having tuna melts for lunch today."

For a moment, Crowley looked like he was contemplating snapping the old matriarch's neck, but he ultimately turned back to Sam, features twisted with bitter anger. "Excuse me, Moose, must dash. I need to go wash off the stink of witch," he said before disappearing. Sam was left glancing between Circe and the spot where he'd been.

"What was that all about?"

"I'm sure you know that when one becomes a demon, he forgets who he was as a human. He forgets the things he loved. Hatred is different, though. A demon's hate does not die in Hell," Circe said quietly, keeping her focus on the tea she was making.

"So...you _knew_ Crowley when he was human?" Sam asked, eyes widening slightly.

"Yes."

"Just how old _are_ you?" Sam found himself asking before he could stop.

Circe laughed as she and Weaver joined them at the table. "You should know better than to ask a lady that question, Sam Winchester, but I believe you know Fergus McLeod's dates of birth and death. I think you can extrapolate a ball park figure from that. So...who's hungry?"

"Hold on a second. How did you know him? Why didn't the two of you get along?"

"That, I think, is a story for another time," the old witch said serenely.

Sam let it go, but he didn't stop thinking about it. Just who was Circe Jones? What sort of person aroused _that_ kind of hatred in the king of Hell?

XxX

Sam wasn't sure what it was that woke him up that night, but the sight he woke up to was starting to become familiar.

While they were staying with the Circle of Moonrise, he, Hunter, and Elaine were sleeping in some sort of large guest dorm that housed several beds. He and Elaine always hit the sack at a reasonable hour, but Hunter would always stay up late, working at the small desk at the end of the room. She'd improved her eating habits, but proper sleep was still a problem. Tonight Hunter seemed to have fallen asleep at the desk, a stripped cartridge lying beside her head on the wooden surface. As per usual, she was dressed in nothing but a bra and underwear. He didn't think she had any actual sleepwear.

Sighing, Sam crawled out of bed and walked over to the desk. Hunter was so out of it, she didn't even stir when he gathered her in his arms and carried her to her bed. He felt guilty for it, but he couldn't quite help letting his eyes rove over her figure as he drew the blankets over her. She really was beautiful. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about...what it might be like with her...what it might be like to kiss her lips...her breasts...to _touch_ her...to have her touch him. He could barely keep the thought of her hands on him from going straight to his groin. But then he would remember that she was just as fragile as he was. It wouldn't be just sex with her. She understood...in a way no woman he'd ever been with before ever could have. Could he really risk harm to that? And for perhaps the first time in his life, Sam thought he really understood why Dean had been afraid to let himself be with Cas.

However, as with most things in Sam Winchester's life, the situation turned on a dime. His thoughts were brought to a screeching halt when a blood curdling shriek filled his ears. It took him several moments to realize the inhuman sound had come from Hunter. Before he could even think about reaching for a weapon, he felt the tip of a hair thin blade against his neck. From what he could see in the dim lamplight, Hunter's eyes were wild and wide with terror.

"Hunter...calm down," he said slowly, not daring to move. "It's all right. You're safe. It's me, Sam."

Slowly, much slower than he would have liked, recognition started to return to her eyes.

"It's Sam, Hunter. You're okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he soothed her, risking a gentle touch to her shoulder...and when she finally seemed to understand what was happening, Sam felt the pressure of the blade drop away. Hunter collapsed back on the bed, curling into a ball. When Sam allowed the tension to ease from his body, he looked up to see Elaine with her gun drawn, staring at him in shock.

"Sam...what did you do?"

Before Sam could answer, the door to the room opened, allowing light from the hallway to spill in. Circe, Alma, and Rachael were all standing there.

"Elaine," Circe began calmly. "I think it would be best if you stayed with Rachael tonight."

"Right," Elaine said with a small nod, tossing her gun into her bag and gathering it up before quickly following Rachael out the door.

"I...I didn't- what _happened?_ " Sam tried to ask, his gaze flitting between Hunter's trembling form and the old witch.

"As with most who choose this life, Hunter has her own demons that haunt her steps," Circe said, her gaze on him almost imperious. "Perhaps she will open up to you." Then, without further admonition or explanation, the witch closed the door and left the two of them alone. Not knowing what else to do, Sam sat down beside Hunter, resting a hand on her shoulder again. She flinched at the contact, but she still allowed it.

"I'm sorry," he said after a while. "I don't know what just happened, but...I only wanted you to be able to sleep better."

"I know," she whispered, reaching a hand up from the tight ball she was curled into to rest it on top of his. "I know you didn't... _mean_ for this to happen...but I can't help it. I'm just...damaged goods. That's all."

"Aren't we all," Sam said quietly, running a thumb soothingly along the warm skin of her shoulder. "That's not gonna stop me from wanting to help."

Hunter chuckled bitterly at this. She didn't say anything, just slipped her hand into his, twining their fingers together and gripping tightly. Sam didn't say anything for a good while either, but his curiosity was eventually piqued when he saw the glint of the blade she'd had on him earlier.

"What's with the knife?" he asked her. "That can't be any thicker than a strand of hair."

"It was in my braid," she answered, and Sam was confused by this until he realized that the braid she normally wore on the right side of her head was undone. So _that_ was why she always wore her hair like that.

"Pretty slick."

"You know about the Packwood Takedown, yeah...but I don't suppose you know it went down like it did _because_ of me."

"No...I didn't."

"After what happened...I promised myself I'd never be without a blade again...so that stays on me always."

"Well...would you mind if I put it on the table? You'll still be able to reach it; it would just make it easier to fit onto the bed," Sam said. After thinking about it a moment, Hunter nodded. Sam gingerly picked up the slender blade and laid it on the bedside table. Then he slowly pulled Hunter into his arms, happy when she shifted out of the fetal position she was curled into, quietly welcoming the embrace.

Neither of them said anything more that night, not commenting on the position they found themselves in, and Sam not asking just what it was that hid itself in Hunter's nightmares. When she felt ready...if she ever _trusted_ him enough...she would tell him about it. Although he had to admit that part of him was afraid to earn her trust, as it could so easily be twisted and used against them. Sam managed to push that fear aside for the moment, though, just continuing to gently stroke Hunter's back until she'd fallen asleep in his arms. The sight of her sleeping, at peace, even if only for a moment, finally allowed him to drop back to sleep himself, holding her close to him until morning.

XxX

Kestrel wished he could say that waking up to screams in the middle of the night was unusual for him, but sadly, that wasn't the case. His folks had loved to scream and fight, at each other and at him. Screaming at him was the last thing they'd done as they were throwing him out of the house. The only comfort he'd had from that moment was that it was the last time anyone would ever call him David. After that last fight, he was Kestrel and there was no going back.

That didn't mean, however, that screaming in the middle of the night didn't frighten him anymore. No. He'd had trouble sleeping the rest of the night, even after Sekhmet had come to check on him. It had made staying awake in class the next day more than a little difficult and it was the reason why he was walking out of seventh period feeling guilty.

Even though he'd said she didn't have to, Circe was seeing him through his senior year of high school and had told him she'd be happy to help send him to college if he had any desire to go. Falling asleep in class was a pretty poor way to repay her kindness. Maybe he should talk to Rachael about a sleep spell while their house guests were staying with them?

Kestrel was just about at the main entrance when he was stopped by the flash of a camera in his eyes. He was about to give the cameraman an angry glare, but he found his eyes drawn to the most beautiful man he'd ever seen, grinning as he pointed his camera at him.

The other boy was a few inches taller than him, with pale skin and short black hair. He was slender, but unlike Kestrel, he didn't come across as scrawny. He wore his frame well, leaning easily against the wall as he snapped more pictures. When he finally lowered the camera, Kestrel found himself struck by his hazel eyes. It was like they shifted from moment to moment, first a little more blue, then a little more green. Whatever the case was, they were the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen.

The other boy's sultry grin widened as they continued to stare at each other. "Sorry about that. Just had to get a picture of those curls in this light," he said as he pushed himself away from the wall, moving closer to Kestrel.

"Oh," Kestrel started, feeling himself start to blush as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Th-thanks...I guess."

"Haven't seen you around before," the other boy commented, moving closer all the while.

Kestrel swallowed heavily, feeling like he might just pass out on the spot. "I...I'm new," he choked out. "Just moved to town. My name's Kestrel Markus."

"Kestrel?" the boy repeated, raising an eyebrow in amusement. "I like it. It's right up there with mine."

"What...what is it?" Kestrel managed to make himself ask. Goddess, but he was tripping all over himself.

"What's what?" the boy asked, keeping his gaze fixed on Kestrel's. He didn't quite know how, but they'd somehow moved out of the crowd...away from the crush of students trying to escape the building.

"Your...your name," he said, swallowing again. He shuddered when the boy rested a hand on his hip.

The boy continued to smile as he leaned in close, answering softly, "I'm Lastelle."

"Lastelle," Kestrel repeated, loving the way the name slid so smoothly off his tongue, leaving a spark of heat at the back of his throat to slip deliciously down into his stomach. Fuck it all, but he was getting an erection and he didn't care _who_ knew it.

"Yes. Lastelle Astin. I'm new, too," he said, eyes darting briefly down to Kestrel's lips. They were barely inches apart now.

"Then...then why would you have seen me before?" Kestrel asked with a high laugh, sense returning for hardly more than a minute.

"Seen you around town, I mean. I've lived here my whole life. I just switched schools. Had a bit of trouble at the last one," he said, his hand slipping around to Kestrel's back, a single finger sliding across a small strip of bare skin just above his waistline.

"What kind of trouble?" Kestrel asked, drawing a shuddering breath at the sudden contact.

"The public indecency kind," Lastelle answered, giving a subtle roll of his hips and allowing his crotch to brush against Kestrel's hard on. Kestrel gasped rather loudly. He was just about ready to let this boy slam him against the wall and fuck him with everybody watching...but then he happened to glance over Lastelle's shoulder and the spell was broken.

He could see Will out in the parking lot with his old green minivan, waiting to pick him up. All at once, his shame and sense of decency returned to him and he blushed violently, backing away from Lastelle and sliding his messenger bag around to conceal the bump in his jeans.

"You'll...you'll have to tell me about it sometime," he stuttered, the ease and certainty from earlier vanished like a puff of smoke. There was no way this guy was interested in _him_. Not anymore anyway, now he'd suddenly slipped back into shy virgin mode. Instead of dismissal, though, he was rewarded with a playful grin as Lastelle winked at him.

"Yes, I will. I'll also have to take some more pictures sometime. You have the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen, Kestrel. I'd _love_ to see those by moonlight," he said with a soft growl. Kestrel actually _groaned_ at the sound. Goddess, but he could come just like this, just listening to Lastelle say these almost dirty things.

"Right...sure," he said in a high voice. "See you tomorrow, maybe? I...I've gotta go."

"Sure. See you tomorrow," he said, watching Kestrel all the way out to the minivan.

Kestrel turned to have one last look at Lastelle before climbing into Will's car, offering the boy a very wide smile.

"Ooh, haven't seen you smile that big in months," Will said as they drove away from the high school. "Have a good day?"

"Yeah," Kestrel sighed dreamily. "I met a _really_ hot guy. I think we might be meeting up again tomorrow."

"Heheh, nice," Will chuckled. Unlike the rest of his family, William Stewart had white skin and a mop of curly red hair. Abby and Christian had a little of his intense red in their hair, but otherwise, they took after their mother. "You be careful, though. No matter what he tells you, you be damn sure to use a condom."

"Will!" Kestrel protested loudly, though he couldn't quite keep his mind from wandering to what sorts of things he and Lastelle could get away with next time they met. As wrapped up as he was in his thoughts of Lastelle, though, it was unfortunate he didn't take another look back after his last look, because then he might have seen the other boy's eyes turn black right before he disappeared out of the crowd.

"Having a bit of fun, are we?" Crowley asked Lastelle as he appeared at one of the school building's back entrances.

"What's wrong with a bit of fun?" the young demon asked his king, leaning against the brick wall with a self-satisfied smirk. "That little slut would have let me throw him down and screw his brains out with the whole school watching. I tell you, boss, I've got this one wrapped around my finger...or certain _other_ appendages. Sorry, Sir, I know I've got a job to do, but I am gonna enjoy this one for every last drop he's got to give."

"Fine, fine, fine. All work and no play, I suppose. The brat will be a fitting reward for you if he proves to be our way into the coven. You won't need to return to Lebanon when Moose and the others leave. Magdalene should be able to keep an eye on things for the moment."

"I'll consider that a raise, Sir. Though, if I might ask...why the sudden interest in the Circle of Moonrise?" Lastelle asked just as Crowley was walking away from him.

Crowley didn't look at him. For a long while, he just stood staring at nothing. When he finally did answer, he was still turned away from him.

"You know what happened to my advisors, of course...the ones who betrayed me for Abaddon."

"Yes," Lastelle answered with a slight shudder. Those poor bastards were trapped in a layer barely above the Cage. Even Winchester wouldn't have been able to free them yet.

"What I have in mind for Circe Jones is _worse,_ " he snarled. "For all the hatred I've ever felt in my entire existence, both mortal and demonic...I hate _no one_ the way I hate that witch. No one on this damned rock's ever suffered the way _she's_ going to suffer!"

XxX

_Dean's been to Hell. He's seen Hell on Earth. He can't explain it, but..._

_...this is worse._

_Watching Cas suffer in his name is a thousand times worse than any torment that has ever been inflicted on him. He imagines it would have been something like this if he'd been forced to watch Sam tortured in the Cage...but even then, he would have known the cause of it. He doesn't understand why this is happening. He just knows that Cas is in pain and it's_ _**his fault.** _

_**Everything** _ _is his fault._

_The angel's cries for help have long since devolved into a single long shriek of agony as his being is torn apart and sewn back together...and Dean...Dean can do nothing but lean helplessly against the wall that separates them, covering his ears in a fruitless attempt to keep the sound out._

_"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he whispers over and over again, because what else can he do? But then, suddenly, the ever present noise dies down and when he looks up, Cas is looking back at him._

_"Dean?" he whispers, voice surprisingly free of pain, considering that he's still nailed to the cross._

_"Cas?" he calls back just as softly, relief starting to thread through his voice. He can feel tears pricking behind his eyes and he doesn't care. He just needs to know that Cas isn't in pain anymore. "Are you okay?"_

_The angel grunts briefly as the nails holding him dissolve and he collapses to the ground. It doesn't take him more than a few moments to look up again, though, smiling as he meets Dean's gaze._

_"Dean," he repeats quietly, the joy in his voice all the answer the hunter needs. It takes him a moment to stand, but just as soon as he can, he's moving toward the barrier, pressing up against it...as if they could actually embrace._

_"I'm here, Cas," he says softly, pressing his hand against the angel's through the unseen surface. "I'm right here."_

_Neither of them is aware of just how long they stand like that, pressed up against each other, as close to hugging as they can get. Dean's the one to finally break the moment when he backs away, though he keeps his hand pressed against the place where Cas' would be. "Cas...why is this happening? Before...you said somethin' about...savin' me. What is it I need savin' from? What's goin' on?"_

_Cas looks away from him at this, misery etching every line of his face. His hand slowly curls into a fist against the glass._

_"Dean...this isn't your fault. I want you to remember that. You did what you had to. Crowley, he...he tricked you."_

_"Cas? What? Happened?" he asks slowly, afraid to know, but at the same time knowing that he_ _**has** _ _to._

_"Cain's mark didn't release your soul when Metatron...killed you. You awoke as a demon," Cas explains._

_"What?" Dean whispers in shock. "How...why...why don't I know this? I don't remember anything. I just remember Metatron...and Sammy...then nothin'. Cas, where_ _**are** _ _we?"_

_"I believe this is occurring in our minds, Dean. You and I are sharing a dream, even though we can't fully...connect. You don't know what's been happening because this is the last part of your soul that hasn't been corrupted by demonic influence. Somehow...this part of you is still protected."_

_"Damn it!" Dean hisses, pounding a fist against the glass. "How...how long has it been...since I fought Metatron?"_

_"A little more than three months."_

_"And...what have I...been doing, exactly?"_

_"Well...you rebelled against Crowley and you've been leading a campaign to resurrect the Knights of Hell and claim Hell for yourself."_

_"Seriously?_ _**I** _ _did that? Did...did I kill him?"_

_"No. Crowley still lives, so the war is ongoing, but you...your demonic self, at least...said that you were doing this for Sam and I...for your family," Cas explains quietly, his eyes sliding away from Dean's once again._

_"Oh," Dean says, the insane scheme starting to make a little more sense. He isn't really the king type...but if his demon side thinks this is the best way to keep Sam and Cas safe, he knows he would have dived right in. "I guess that makes sense. I'm not sayin' I_ _**like** _ _it, but I understand."_

_"It's exactly like what I tried to do when I usurped Heaven's power. I wanted to save you...but as we all know, that went horribly wrong," Cas says, shifting so that his back is leaning up against the barrier._

_"Cas...I haven't hurt Sam, have I? Or you?" Dean asks, forehead pressed against the wall as he glances at the angel out of the corner of his eye._

_"Sam is fine," Cas answers...and the way he leaves it at that breaks something inside the hunter._

_"And you?" Dean presses. When Cas doesn't answer, he feels himself start to get desperate. "Cas, tell me what happened. What did I do to you?"_

_Cas sighs heavily, staring off into the darkness as he starts to talk again. "I didn't tell you this before...because I didn't want to hurt you...but I feel you need to know."_

_"Cas...please..." he whispers, feeling his throat start to tighten again. He's feeling guilty already and he doesn't even know what he's done._

_**Just tell me.** _

_"I want you to understand, Dean...you did nothing to me I hadn't desired myself...for so many years. I didn't...try to fight."_

_**Oh, God...** _

_"In fact, it...it made me realize...just how long you and I have been running from each other. At first, I did it to punish myself. I had done too much wrong to ever be worthy of a soul like yours. I could live for eternity and never be worthy of_ _**you** _ _...Dean Winchester."_

_"Cas-"_

_"No, Dean. Let...let me finish this," Cas says quietly, his eyes squeezing shut as he continues. "I know how beautiful your soul is. I raised it from the darkness myself. I didn't understand it at first...didn't understand for a long time...but I loved you from the moment I laid hands on you. I was lost...head over heals...stupid in love with you. But...after what happened with Purgatory...I was afraid of what that love could make me do. All my love had done thus far was wreak destruction. I didn't want to see you destroyed, too. So I ran from it," he explains with quiet tears falling down his face. "But now...I just...I'm not so afraid anymore. I'm just...exhausted. I'm so_ _**tired** _ _of dreaming up excuses for not coming to you and telling you that my heart_ _**breaks** _ _for you. I don't want to fight anymore, Dean. I don't want to be a soldier. I just want to find a little peace. I don't want to run from this anymore," he finishes, shifting once more so that he's leaning against the barrier with one shoulder. He reaches out a hand, as if he can touch Dean's cheek through the glass...and all the while, Dean just stares back at him with silent tears of his own pouring down his face._

_It's everything he's ever wanted to hear...that Castiel cares for him like this...that he wants to be with him...and it's happening_ _**now** _ _...at the moment he's learning what he's done to the angel._

_"So...what?" he starts, voice hitching. He doesn't even try to wipe the tears away. "All that's supposed to just erase the fact that I fuckin'_ _**raped** _ _you?"_

_Cas winces at this, fingers briefly curling against the barrier. "That isn't what I meant. I know...neither of us wanted this to happen this way. I just wanted you to know how I feel...how I've always felt. Nothing will ever change that. None of this is your fault. You can't blame yourself for it."_

_"When have I ever done anything else?" Dean asks, chuckling bitterly. "It's not true, you know."_

_"What?" Cas asks, expression suddenly uncertain. "What's not true?"_

_"The bit about...wreaking destruction. You seem to think...all you've ever done is hurt me. It's not true. There were times when you were the only damn thing worth gettin' up in the morning for. It's just...I don't wanna hurt you. That's why I never let myself...well...looks like I already did. Fuckin' burned that bridge," Dean growls, bashing a fist against the barrier. He doesn't want to look at Cas...doesn't want to see him forgive him for even this._

_"Dean-"_

_"No, Cas. Don't you get it?_ _**I'm** _ _the one who's gonna end up destroyin'_ _**you.** _ _Everything I touch goes bad. I don't know why. I tried so damn hard. I just...I can't..._ _**God!** _ _" he shouts, this time bashing his head against the barrier._

_"Dean, calm down," Cas tries to plead with him, fingers pressing fervently against the glass, desperate to reach him, but unable to get through._

_"Calm down?_ _**Calm down?!** _ _" he snarls, glaring at the angel. "I've done pretty much the one thing I swore I'd never do and you want me to just let it go?!"_

_"There are still things you don't know, Dean...things you don't understand," Cas says quietly, gaze drifting to the ground._

_"What? You mean it's_ _**worse?** _ _How can it be worse?" he asks, feeling fear sink its claws into his chest once again. What else could have possibly happened?_

_"It isn't like that. If you would just listen-"_

_He might have. Given just a few more words, Dean might have been able to let Cas calm him and talk him through everything, but unfortunately, this is also the moment he feels himself shift and the barrier between them collapses, allowing him to reach forward and seize Castiel's shoulders._

_"So what did you want to hear him say?" he asks, sneering in excitement as he takes in the suddenly fearful look in the angel's blue eyes. "Were you expectin' something out of Romeo and Juliet? You tell him how much you love him and he breaks down like a little bitch and promises you forever? Newsflash, Castiel. Dean_ _**can't** _ _say those things. He's not_ _**capable** _ _of tellin' you how he feels."_

_"He doesn't have to," Castiel says quietly as he looks away from him, eyes closed. "I know. I know what the truth is...and nothing you say will make it otherwise."_

_"What was it he didn't understand?" he asks, grinning when the angel tears himself away from him._

_"Nothing_ _**you** _ _need to know, demon," Castiel snaps at him._

_"It doesn't matter, you know. Whatever you tell him, you tell me. Maybe I can't reach this last piece of myself, but I still have access to everything he knows. I'll find out eventually," he taunts, following the angel's retreat._

_"Then I would prefer that to be later, rather than sooner. You do not have access to everything_ _**I** _ _know."_

_"Maybe not...but there're plenty of things I know that you don't. Hell can be pretty damn...well...enlightening."_

_For several moments, the demon watches the angel struggle not to react, but ultimately, he turns back to him, glaring...but there's still a touch of fear in his eyes that the demon relishes._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"You think I did this just so I could see you again...or to test the limits of this freaky bond we've got goin'? No. So long as you keep the First Blade from me, I'm gonna keep at this. Plus, there's an even bigger plan at work here. Y'see, Angelface, you're gonna help me get through to him."_

_The angel's eyes flare to white hot life at this, anger lighting up every molecule of his being. If he could, Dean feels almost certain he would smite him._

_"I will_ _**die** _ _before I let you touch him."_

_"That's where you're wrong, pretty angel. You see, every time we do this little dance, that wall that separates you from him gets a little thinner. No tellin' how much of a beating it can take, but that last little bit of light isn't just keepin'_ _**you** _ _out. It's what keeps_ _**me** _ _out, too. That last little piece of soul...in your mind, I guess you'd say it's protectin' him...and you just wore a little more of it away."_

_"You...you're...I don't believe you!" Castiel snaps, turning away from him, the tremble of his shoulders just barely visible._

_"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not. It's true. Maybe you should have listened to yourself in the first place...that your love can't do anything but wreak destruction. No matter what you do, Angelface, the man you love is gonna die."_

_"_ _ **ENOUGH!**_ _" Castiel screams, and the moment he does, the nightmare realm shatters_ and the angel woke with a strangled cry.

"Cas!" Merry yelped in surprise when he bolted up in bed. "Lailah! He's awake!"

The words were barely out of the young hunter's mouth when the other angelappeared in his room, looking concerned.

"Don't tell me," Cas groaned, rubbing his temples in frustration. "Five days?"

Lailah nodded. "Thereabouts. What happened this time?"

"It was...much the same. I saw him again. I wanted to tell him about her...about our child...but when the demon broke through, he told me that anything I tell Dean, he will learn through him. If I tell him...then the demon will also know...and I cannot risk that," he said quietly, a hand shifting unconsciously to his belly. As Lailah came to sit beside him, his stomach growled rather loudly, twisting with the need for food. The angel blushed in mild embarrassment. "Is there anything to eat?"

"We had Chinese last night. There's some leftover dumplings if you're interested," Merry said, and when he nodded, she immediately jumped up to go and grab them.

"Was there more?" Lailah asked gently, resting a hand on his knee.

"He said...that whenever this happens, the barrier that protects that last part of him becomes weaker. It seems it...isn't just the child I must worry about. You don't suppose he...could have been lying to me...do you?" he asked the older angel, hardly daring to allow such a hope. After all, when had luck ever been a part of their lives?

"It seems to me...it would be best to assume he was not. Perhaps this last spark of light exists in all demons? After all, why would this cure work if there was truly nothing remaining of their humanity? I suppose...an opportunity such as this has never existed before. At this juncture, I would say it's best to proceed cautiously. As with everything else, this is all new territory."

"It seems we just...can't catch a break, as they say," Cas said, shoulders slumping slightly. "Is Dorothy all right?" he asked. He'd hate to think that absolutely nothing had come out of this awful mess.

"She's fine. Nothing she won't recover from...with time. I never did thank you, though."

"For what?" Cas asked, looking up at her.

"For restoring my wings to me," she said quietly, and when Cas saw those beautiful new wings flutter excitedly in the plain above, he could also see tears of joy in Lailah's eyes. "I had never...thought to have the power to fly again, but you've given me my wings back. Thank you."

The two angels fell into a comfortable silence after that, silently sharing the joy that only they could understand...the regaining of a power they'd thought lost forever.

If the fallen angels could take wing again, maybe there just might be hope for their doomed struggle after all.

XxX

"So," Sam started as he glanced around the nightclub, "did you have any idea this was a setup?"

"I had my suspicions," Hunter answered. "I should have known something was up when Elaine and Sekhmet talked me into this little black dress get up. Guess I bought into the whole 'it'll be your last chance to wear one for a while' thing."

At nearly three months pregnant, there was still only the slightest hint of a swell beneath the black dress the two girls had talked Hunter into. People probably wouldn't notice unless they knew what they were looking at...or unless they were really rude enough to ask when the baby was due. Whatever the case, she was beautiful. Sam wasn't completely sure where the black silk shirt the girls had leant him came from, but he at least still got to wear his own jeans. The girls had matched them up perfectly-like a couple, and even though Sam knew they weren't, that he had no right to feel this way, he couldn't quite help feeling a twinge of jealousy when he saw the gazes Hunter was drawing. Who did these people think they were? They didn't know her. They didn't know what an amazing woman she was. To them, she was just a pretty face...a body...nothing more.

_And what is she to_ _ **you?**_ he couldn't help asking himself. _Do_ _ **you**_ _really know her?_

"Hey, lover boy," Elaine called to him, briefly gripping his arm before going to join Rachael and Sekhmet at the bar. "If you don't like them staring, you should do something about it."

"Says you!" he called after her. She didn't look back, but he did see her shoulders tense briefly.

"Well...I dunno why we were expecting anything different when they said they wanted to celebrate a successful hunt. Is this what you and Dean did after hunts?" Hunter asked him.

"A drink maybe...if we didn't have to skip town right away. This was more Dean's arena than mine, though," he answered, continuing to look around, throwing out the occasional evil eye to anyone whose gaze hung on Hunter too long. They'd stayed in Fall River longer than they'd meant to when a werewolf had started causing trouble. When the three hunters had returned to the coven alive, Sekhmet and Rachael had insisted on going out to celebrate. Now they were at the bar getting drinks while he and Hunter were left to stare awkwardly at the sea of furiously grinding bodies. Ultimately, though, Hunter just threw her head back and laughed.

"You know what? Fuck it. Let's do this thing," she said, grabbing Sam by the hand and pulling him onto the dance floor.

For a moment, he wasn't sure what to do, but Hunter just jumped right into it, rocking her body to the music like nobody was watching. Unable to help smiling at her obvious joy, Sam finally managed to loosen up and just move with her, letting everything else slip away, even if it was only for a moment.

Sam didn't know how long they danced together. He lost track of the number of songs that had played somewhere in the middle of it all. He wasn't thinking about any of the things that had weighed so heavily on his mind these past few months. All he knew was that he was with Hunter, dancing like an idiot, and he was happy...uninhibited. But of course,nothing lasts forever.

The younger Winchester was snapped out of the moment quite suddenly when he looked across the crowded dance floor and happened to see Hannah staring back at him. Tensing briefly, he looked down to see Hunter looking up at him.

"What's wrong?" she called out over the noise of the crowd.

"Nothing," he said absently, glancing back to see the angel slip away. "I...I gotta take a leak," he offered up lamely, using it as an excuse to slip away from her. Not waiting to see if she bought his excuse or not, he quickly followed after Hannah.

The angel slipped out of the club and into a back alley, and when he finally caught up with her, she wouldn't face him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Fulfilling my purpose," she answered, her voice faint and tired. "I understand it...now that I see her. Hunter Silver is the mother...and _you_ are the desperate child," she said, and when she finally turned to face him, she looked painfully exhausted.

"Me?" he asked quietly. Of all the items remaining, he'd certainly thought that to be the most likely for what he might be, but it was different to hear Hannah confirm it.

"Yes, you are the one."

"So what are you going to do? Cut my heart out?" Sam asked, only half joking. He didn't imagine his heart was anymore literal than any of the other items, but it was still unsettling to see Hannah here. What did she have in mind?

"No. It isn't that part of you the spell requires. What I need from you is your _love,_ " she clarified, eyeing him the way a cat eyes a mouse it's about to eat.

"Well...that's a new one," Sam said, backing away just slightly. "How do you plan on harvesting _that?_ "

"That's just it. That's the part I can't figure out," the angel growled in frustration. "What physical item could possibly contain your love for Hunter Silver?"

"Hold on a sec. How would you know it's her?" Sam tried to argue, wanting to keep Hunter out of this as best he could. "I mean, she's a wonderful person and all, but I wouldn't go right to love."

"Do not play that game with me, Sam Winchester. Do not try to protect her. I have my sources. I called in a favor from an old Cupid friend of mine."

"Wait? Cupid?" Sam repeated, already feeling dread start to boil in his stomach. If there was a Cupid involved in this, well...he just didn't want to think about what that meant.

"Just so. He'd been so certain he wouldn't need to instigate your union, that the two of you would come together on your own, but when I asked if he'd be willing to set you up a little ahead of schedule, he was only too happy to oblige. You may not realize it, but you've been marked already. The mark of union is within you, _carved_ into your heart."

Sam didn't doubt her. There was no reason to. He'd felt it. He'd just been afraid to put a name to it. Love had done nothing but cause him pain. Why should this be any different? Instead of giving voice to any of that, though, he asked, "What about Hunter? Has she...been marked yet?"

"You were both marked. It was on the night you held her in your arms. Frankly, James is surprised you haven't thrown her down and kissed her from head to toe. The mark of union is very...compelling, shall we say."

"That part I know," Sam growled, trying very hard not to summon up any of the mental images he'd had. "Guess I just have more of a conscience than you'd expected. How is getting us into bed going to further your plan, though?"

"It's about more than just coupling, Sam Winchester. The mark of union is _binding._ It brings forth the love and the desire you conceal. If the two of you come together, the item I need will surely be revealed."

"Then I can tell you right now, it's not gonna happen," Sam said firmly, feeling a flicker of anger beneath his worry. "What I want doesn't matter. What I feel isn't important. I won't let you use us for this, Hannah."

Sam wasn't sure, but in the dim light from the club, he could almost swear he saw Hannah sneer. "Don't try to fool yourself, Winchester. This isn't like Lucifer. It isn't just a simple matter of saying no. You'll be _drawn_ to her...and the longer you resist, the worse it will become. You _cannot_ fight this."

"Watch me," he snapped at her. "You're talking to the guy who fought Lucifer."

"This is different," she said with a knowing smirk. "You _want_ this. How long can you reasonably expect to not give into something that you want?"

"We'll find out," Sam said, grinning as he glanced over Hannah's shoulder just in time to see Hunter press a gun to the back of her head.

"You're a bit off your game, angel, if you didn't notice me coming," the gunsmith said smugly. "Sorry I took so long, Sam. Had to get the gun from the car."

"Do you really believe you can harm me, Hunter Silver?" Hannah asked calmly.

"Yeah, I do, actually. Maybe you're out of the loop, but these rounds contain traces of consecrated metal. Who's rockin' the angel blade now, bitch!" she challenged. "You might want to seriously consider clearing out about now."

"That suits me well enough. I have nothing more to gain by staying. I will return, though. You both have something I need," the angel informed her, not turning to face her.

"I disagree. I believe there is much to be gained by your staying," a new voice announced. The three turned to see a man standing at the entrance to the alley. With his broad shoulders and thickly-muscled arms, he could have easily been some kind of ultimate fighter, but that idea was thoroughly contrasted by the long brown hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Well, looks like back alleys are the place to be tonight," Sam commented, eyeing the newcomer with uncertainty.

"Matarael," Hannah said, her voice rising in mild panic.

"Where are your demon consorts tonight, Hannah?" the man who was clearly an angel asked as he approached them.

"Wait. Did you call him...Matarael?" Hunter asked, gaze darting between the two angels.

"Yes," Hannah answered, her own eyes fixed on the grey-eyed angel.

"My God, it _is_ you," the gunsmith said, eyes narrowing in anger as she looked the angel up and down.

"Hello, Hunter Silver. It's been a long time," the angel returned calmly.

"Not long enough," Hunter snarled, training her gun on Matarael.

"Hold on. You _know_ this guy?" Sam asked her.

"I hate to think you have anything to do with this, Hunter. After all, it was not for nothing that I saved your life all those years ago," the angel said.

"Well, if this thing with Cas puts us on opposite sides, I'm even more for it than I already was. I told you I'd find a way to kill you, Matarael, and I finally did. You're lookin' at my Pieta right here. These little beauties will blow a hole right through your grace," she said, and Sam couldn't help but notice how her anger had brought on that slight twang in her voice yet again.

"Then you know where Castiel is hiding?" Matarael demanded, keeping only part of his attention on the gun pointed at him.

"Yeah, you can forget that. I'll be six feet under before I turn on _any_ of my friends. This ends _now!_ " she snarled as she fired.

"I think not," the grey-eyed angel said in the same moment, and faster than the eye could track, he spun out of the way, swiftly plunging his angel blade into Hunter's shoulder. The gunsmith cried out in pain as she dropped to her knees, the gun clattering away.

" _Hunter!_ " Sam shouted, immediately moving to her side, shielding her from the angel.

"Perhaps _you_ are willing to die for this cause, Hunter, but are you prepared to let _him_ die for it?" Matarael asked, blade pointing directly at Sam's spine. "Either tell me what I want to know or I'll kill the Winchester in front of you."

"Matarael, _don't!_ " Hannah suddenly interrupted. "I need them alive."

"Then tell me _why!_ " Matarael growled at the other angel. "Tell me what you know and I might spare him."

It was a no win situation and Sam knew it. Hannah couldn't reveal Cas' secret. The fact that Heaven didn't know about Cas and Dean's kid was really the only thing any of them had going for them. Hunter's gun was just out of his reach and he didn't want to leave her defenseless with a wound from an angel blade.

"Of course you won't," Hannah argued. "What angel would leave a Winchester breathing after everything that's happened? If you don't leave this moment, I will _make_ you leave."

Matarael chuckled darkly at this. "If you could do that, you would have. You never know, though. I might agree with your reason for keeping him alive."

"Oh, I very much doubt it," Hannah said. Then, in a move that absolutely nobody had been expecting, she bodily lifted the other angel and threw him through the brick wall, right into the club.

"Shit," Sam muttered as screams started to echo from the building.

"Sam," Hunter groaned, "if...if we let him...take her back to Heaven...they'll find out about Cas. They'll get it out of her."

"I know. I know," he said, moving away from her for just a moment to grab her gun. "Can you even move?"

"Just...help me walk. We gotta...Elaine...and the others...they're still in there."

"Right," Sam said, helping her to her feet. She leaned heavily against him as they moved, her shoulder bleeding freely. He was afraid to even consider what sort of damage an angel blade might have done to her with just a tiny stab wound like that.

Sam could already see that the club was in chaos when he and Hunter entered through the demolished wall. There were several bodies scattered among the collapsed brick and many more people still standing attempting to flee the scene as the two angels fought. The only ones who did not flee, though, were the three women standing at the bar.

Seeing the two of them, the hunter and the two witches quickly circled around the battling angels, coming to help him support Hunter.

"What happened?" Elaine demanded as she tried to examine the wound in the gunsmith's shoulder.

"We've got to get out of here!" Rachael tried to insist.

"No," Sam said firmly, still holding tightly to Hunter. "I don't know how, but we've got to make sure this guy doesn't take Hannah with him."

"Sam...my blood," Hunter mumbled weakly. "Use it...draw the banishing sigil."

"That _could_ work," he said, "but would it keep her away from him? We'd be rid of the angels, but would the sigil just banish them to the same place?"

"What if Hannah were to activate the sigil herself?" Elaine suggested.

"That might actually work."

"So what you're saying is you need a way of getting her over here," Sekhmet said with a suddenly excited grin.

"Yeah," Sam said, not completely certain what she was thinking.

"One distraction comin' right up," the witch practically sang. Then, right before their eyes, she transformed into a large, sleek panther. Midnight fur quickly sprouted from her skin as her limbs bulked out and she easily collapsed into a four-legged figure. She made it look as easy as slipping on a coat. Rearing her head back, the jungle cat gave an unearthly scream before throwing herself into the fight, gleaming fangs ready for blood.

"Sam...hurry," Hunter urged. "Not...much time."

"Right. Elaine, do you know it?" he asked her, to which she nodded, running a finger through the blood that painted Hunter's side. Working quickly, she drew a hasty banishing sigil on the floor.

Unfortunately for Sekhmet, she wasn't able to stay in the fight for very long. After getting in a few good swipes at Matarael's back, he easily tossed her aside. The panther smashed hard into the far wall before crashing to the floor, raising her head only once before falling completely still.

"Sekhmet!" Rachael cried out in fear.

"We can't keep this up," Elaine said. "We need to do something."

"Need... _help_ ," Hunter murmured in Sam's ear, gripping his shoulder just a little tighter. It didn't take any more than that for him to realize what she meant, but were they really that desperate?

"Are you sure?" he asked her. "Can we trust them?"

"There's no time," she hissed. "If you don't do it...I will."

"Fine, but if this gets us killed-"

"You'll kill me. I get it," she said with a pained smile.

"Tek! Kiah! We need your help!" he shouted, not really knowing what else to do.

That seemed to be all that was needed, though, as the pair suddenly appeared at the center of the deserted dance floor, both in human form. When the two angels noticed them, their fighting immediately ceased.

"The dogs of Egypt," Matarael said with a mocking sneer. "What are you doing here?"

"Serving humanity, which is more than the _dogs of God_ have ever done," Tek snapped at the angel. "Our master is working to ease the pain of the souls trapped in the veil. What is Heaven doing?"

"The best we can. When we have upstarts like this lot working against us, there's only so much we can do."

"If that is all it takes to hinder you, perhaps you deserved to be toppled," Kiah said. "We will allow Heaven to do no further harm in this world!"

With that, the two snapped the crystal pendants they wore from their chains. The charms immediately transformed into crystalline blades and the two servants were instantly on the attack, Tek launching himself at Matarael and Kiah flying at Hannah.

"Kiah, we need her. Get her over here!" Sam called out. Hearing him, Kiah began to maneuver Hannah in their direction, ankh and angel blades clashing furiously. When Sam glanced toward the fight between Matarael and Tek, he noticed that Tek actually seemed to be injuring the angel with his strange crystalline weapon.

Kiah and Hannah struggled for several more minutes before Kiah managed to subdue her, knocking the angel's blade aside and laying her own to her throat.

"Hannah, we've got a banishing sigil here. Use it," Sam told her. "Get that bastard out of here."

Hannah didn't say anything, just dropped to her knees the moment Kiah lifted the ankh blade away and slammed her palm against the sigil. There was an instant flash of light and when it had cleared, Matarael had vanished, leaving a very relieved-looking Tek behind.

"All right, Hannah, you're in the clear. Now get out of here," Sam snapped at her.

"I shall," the angel said as her gaze shifted suspiciously between the two newcomers, "but do not doubt I will return." With that, Hannah got to her feet and walked out of the partly demolished building.

"Well-timed, that," Tek said with a wry smile. "We can do plenty of damage with these blades, but we'd never have any hope of actually _killing_ an angel."

"Sam...I don't think...I can stand anymore," Hunter muttered weakly, her full weight suddenly collapsing against him.

"Hey, hey, no," Sam argued as he slowly lowered the gunsmith to the floor, her head resting in his lap. "You damn well better not be dying on me, Hunter Silver."

"Nah," she whispered. "Just...really fuckin' tired," she mumbled, eyes slowly slipping shut.

"Hey! _Hunter!_ " Sam shouted, but even that didn't rouse her. She was out cold. Reminded of another knife wound not all that long ago, Sam couldn't deny the fear creeping up in his gut. If she didn't wake up...

"The wound is not fatal," Kiah announced as she knelt with them, her blade shrinking back down to its original pendant size. "It seems the angel had no wish to kill her. She is just very drained," she explained, placing the tip of the crystal against the wound in Hunter's shoulder. A spark of light shone within the crystal and the wound immediately sealed itself up, but Hunter remained passed out. "Just let her sleep. She'll be fine in the morning."

"What about...the babies? Are they gonna be okay?" Sam asked her.

Kiah nodded. "They will be fine. They were not harmed."

"This woman will also recover," Tek reported from the other side of the room. Whatever he'd done to Sekhmet, she was lying on the floor in human form, just as out cold as Hunter was.

"We should get them back to the house. No way the cops aren't gonna be showing up here any minute now," Elaine reminded them all. "We definitely don't want to be here when they do."

Sam nodded, lifting Hunter into his arms without even thinking about it. Tek also picked up Sekhmet and he and Kiah followed Rachael and Elaine out the destroyed back wall with Sam not far behind. As the two young women led the way back to Sekhmet's car, he couldn't help looking down at Hunter now and again. Even though Kiah had said she would be fine, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop worrying until she was awake again. So much had happened tonight, _too_ much to properly think about. Most troubling of all was this whole mark of union business. All of the women in his past had met with horrible fates. What would happen to the woman he was _bound_ to?

XxX

When Hannah limped back to her motel room, all she could really do was collapse on the bed. She'd gotten herself proper warding tattoos, but somehow, Matarael had still managed to find her. The wounds from her other opponent's blade were healing, but it was happening slowly. It wasn't the instantaneous process she was used to. It had all gone so very wrong.

Everything was going wrong. Ever since she'd learned about Olivia, her vessel's soul had been tangling with awareness just beneath her own and it was hideously distracting. She'd made no progress on obtaining any more of the items and she still couldn't figure out what the final one was or who might possess it. Even if she didn't know specifically what the heart and the trust were, she'd at least figured out who possessed them.

On top of everything else, she couldn't seem to shake Heaven's pursuit. Matarael would be on her until they got what they wanted and she _knew_ she couldn't let that happen.

At this point, it seemed that the best way forward would be to pursue the fourth item: the perfect height of faith, hatred, and love. She'd only been avoiding it because going after it would involve doing something she really didn't want to. So, when her wounds had finally healed, she rose from the ratty bed and pulled together the items she needed for a summoning spell.

When the ritual was complete, Dean Winchester was standing before her.

"Oh, Hannah. Lemme think, last time I saw you was when you were tellin' Castiel to _kill_ me. Word for the wise, feathery bitch, not likely to put you on my good side," he told her, looking like he'd like nothing better than to kill her. "Why did you call me?"

"Because I have information you need. I believe we could be of help to each other, Dean Winchester," she said, trying to keep her voice level, trying to deny the fact that she was afraid of this demon.

Dean actually laughed at this, shakin his head as he started to circle her. "How's that?"

"There's something you don't know...about Castiel."


	11. The Fire of Thine Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "Seems to me it would behoove our Deanmon to learn whether or not Cas could be contained with holy fire. A short nap is hardly an exorbitant price to pay for information like that. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine."...
> 
> Anubis?" Hunter repeated. "Like...the Anubis? The god of mummification?"...
> 
> "So...you knew Crowley when he was human?" Sam asked, eyes widening slightly...
> 
> "As with most who choose this life, Hunter has her own demons that haunt her steps," Circe said, her gaze on him almost imperious. "Perhaps she will open up to you."...
> 
> "I don't want to fight anymore, Dean. I don't want to be a soldier. I just want to find a little peace. I don't want to run from this anymore,"...
> 
> "Don't try to fool yourself, Winchester. This isn't like Lucifer. It isn't just a simple matter of saying no. You'll be drawn to her...and the longer you resist, the worse it will become. You cannot fight this."...
> 
> "Hey, hey, no," Sam argued as he slowly lowered the gunsmith to the floor, her head resting in his lap. "You damn well better not be dying on me, Hunter Silver."...
> 
> "There's something you don't know...about Castiel."...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, what can I say but sorry I've been gone so long. I had laser corrective surgery on my eyes, so I've been away from my computer a few weeks. I'd been trying to get this chapter done before I went in for the surgery, but it just didn't work out. I especially didn't want to rush the last scene in this chapter, since you all have been waiting so long for it. That being said, I surely hope you enjoy.

"So would the living dead be interested in some coffee?"

Sam looked up from his vigil to find Elaine standing in the door. He blinked in confusion for several moments before realizing she was holding a large mug in her hands.

"Oh…yeah…sure," he murmured, slowly standing from the chair he'd been sitting in next to Hunter's bed and meeting Elaine halfway, barely noticing the temperature of the mug as she pressed it into his hands.

"No change yet, I gather," the younger hunter said softly as she glanced toward their comatose friend.

"Nothing," Sam said, keeping his focus on the coffee and fighting the urge to look back when he knew he wouldn't see anything different. Kiah had said Hunter would be fine by morning, but they were now entering the third day following the fight in the nightclub and she still hadn't regained consciousness. Sam hadn't slept a wink in that time and he felt he was about an inch from going crazy.

"Well, I dunno if you heard the call a few minutes ago, but breakfast is on downstairs. Circe and Alma inform me if there's no change today, they _will_ authorize Atreus to drag you down to eat something…just so you know," she informed him as she slowly backed out of the room. Sam nodded to let her know he'd heard before turning and heading back to his perch.

_Damn it, Hunter, if you die on me the way Dean did…_

…what? What would he do? Make a deal for her? Talk to Crowley? Maybe Cas could do something. He felt sure Circe could do something, but she hadn't offered any help yet. All she'd said was that Hunter would make her way back when she was ready, and it wasn't as if a hospital would be any help. Those had _never_ been any help.

After what had happened before, Sam made sure to only cover Hunter with a blanket when she was shivering. He didn't want to make whatever situation this was worse than it already was. Currently, though, she was sleeping peacefully, dressed in a satin nightgown Rachael had lent.

_What am I gonna do…if she doesn't wake up?_

"Hey, Winchester," he suddenly heard her calling out. When his gaze snapped up from the coffee mug, he saw her looking up at him, blinking sleepily and smiling faintly. "What'd I miss?"

"Hunter!" he shouted. Quickly putting the mug aside, he leaned down to pull her into his arms. "Dammit, Silver!" he muttered, being as gentle as he could manage as he held her close.

"Sam, what…what is it?" she asked, confusion plain in her voice as she returned the embrace. "How long was I out?"

"A few days, but Kiah said you'd all be fine by morning. I…I was worried," he said, and almost before he realized what he was doing, he had his nose buried in her hair and was breathing in her scent. He couldn't be sure what he might have done had he not reminded himself that they couldn't be doing this sort of thing…that it was dangerous. Quickly pulling back from her, he couldn't help noticing the tiny look of disappointment in her eyes.

"Well," she started slowly, "I guess Matarael would have needed to drain a lot from me in order to get me to stop fighting him."

"On that subject, how _do_ you know him?" Sam asked, offering her his untouched coffee. She took a grateful sip, wincing slightly as the strong flavor hit her tongue.

"We should have killed him. It would've been better than banishing him," she answered bitterly, warming her hands with the mug.

"Well, excuse me if I was a little more concerned about _you_ just then. Not that I don't buy an angel who's a complete dick, mind, but what did this one do that was so bad? He said something about…saving your life?"

"That's what he did. He saved my life when I didn't _want_ to be saved," she growled, taking another gulp of the coffee before setting it aside.

Sam stared at her for a long moment before answering. "While I can see where _you'd_ deem that an offense punishable by death, _I_ might just give the guy a medal. What's so bad about that?"

"It isn't just that. I was saved…and nobody else was. He left everyone else to die and he wouldn't tell me _why!_ He should've just left me there. When he said that none of the others mattered, that _I_ was the only one fated to be saved…I said I wanted him to know what it was like to face death. Matarael's the reason I've spent my entire adult life working on the gospel."

"And…do you _still_ wish he'd left you to die?" Sam couldn't keep himself from asking, almost afraid to know what her answer might be. Hunter stared at him a moment before answering.

"No…no, of course not. It's just…it…when someone tells you your family doesn't matter…that their deaths meant nothing…you don't tend to let that go. I don't want to see anyone else left to die because of him," she explained, looking away from him as she gripped the sheets in her hands.

"Yeah…that I understand," Sam said quietly, reaching out to lay a hand on top of hers. He felt relieved when she shifted her hand to take his, easily twining their fingers together. "Well, if we're gonna be on opposite sides of this thing, you should definitely get your chance to waste him."

Hunter turned back to him at this, offering up a lopsided grin. "Don't fuck with me now, Winchester. This has sorta been a lifelong obsession of mine."

"When your moment comes, I'll be right there with you, backing you up," he said, curling his pinky finger around hers. "Promise."

For a long while, the pair of them just sat there grinning like fools, but after a time, Hunter's expression began to shift.

"So?" she started. "On the subject of angels…what are we gonna do about this mark of union business?"

At this, Sam's shoulders stiffened and he attempted to pull his hand free of the gunsmith's, but she just squeezed a little tighter, refusing to let him go. Ultimately, he just groaned and slumped, staring down at their joined hands in misery. "So you heard that?"

"Yeah. I…I've never dealt with cupids before. What exactly are we talking here?"

"What…what we call cupids, they're…cherubim – a lower class of angels. It's their job to see that certain people…"

"Hook up?" Hunter supplied when he was unable to.

"Right. I used to think it was just for reproductive purposes, but Dean told me he and Cas saw a cupid hook up two guys once, so there's got to be more to it. The mark of union is an Enochian sigil they carve into two people's hearts. It binds them together."

"And the two of us…we were marked _that_ night?" she clarified.

"Yes," he answered, looking away from her again.

"So I'm not the only one who's been wanting to tear my clothes off and get completely fucking nasty?" she asked, and the bluntness of her words snapped Sam's eyes right back to her face. She was just barely managing to smile.

"No…no, you're not."

"Sam…before it happened, did you…did you want this?" she asked, suddenly sounding afraid.

"Yes!" he immediately rushed to reassure her. "Hunter, you're an amazing woman. You're smart and fun and beautiful and any man'd be damn lucky to end up with you. I don't want you to think for one second I wasn't interested the minute I saw you snap that gun in half; it's just…it…it's complicated," he offered up lamely.

"So this isn't something the angels forced on you because I had a crush? Because they needed you to be in love?"

"No. _Hell_ no. Honestly, I was scared _you_ were the one who was forced…because _I_ was the one with a crush."

"No, definitely not. I was interested from the moment I saw you blush that first night. But we…we can't do anything about it?" she clarified, the disappointment on her face now plain to be seen.

"We shouldn't," Sam said softly, still holding her hand. "If we…let this happen…I'm afraid Hannah will find a way to get another element for her ritual. My heart…your trust…she'll find a way to use them against us…against Cas. I don't want to see that happen. I'm sorry," he said, reaching forward with his free hand to brush a strand of hair from her face.

"No! It's not- not _your_ fault," she jumped to reassure him. "It's just…I'm afraid we might be too late to stop it," she said, her expression shifting to something like guilt as she looked away from him.

Sam sighed. Neither of them was looking at the other, but neither let go of the other's hand either. "You're probably right. We can't change what we already feel…but that doesn't mean we have to act on it," he said, slowly looking back up at her. She also began to peek shyly back at him.

"I guess you're right, but…do you really think it would hurt anything if I kissed you…just once?" she asked, her voice slowly drifting off in a trance-like daze.

"Just once," he repeated as he gazed into her eyes, easily yielding to their green depths. Before he was properly aware of it, he was cupping her face in one hand, running a gentle thumb along the curve of her cheekbone.

"Just once," she returned, eyes now hazy, the ache in her voice traveling straight down to his groin.

_Just once…_

Just once. Neither could be sure how many times they repeated the words to each other, but they came as if through the heated pitch of a fever dream. Neither was certain who instigated the kiss, but their lips were suddenly pressed together, open and inviting, each eager to give more.

Sam groaned as he crawled on top of Hunter, not completely sure when he'd fallen onto the bed with her and not really caring. All he could focus on was the way she moaned against him, warm and soft as she filled his arms. Nothing else in the world mattered except for her, and he wanted to make her feel pleasure like she'd never known.

Once he'd started, Sam found he couldn't stop. Each kiss begat another, desire building on desire until they were trembling in each other's arms.

"Sam… _Sam!_ " Hunter cried out desperately as she threw her head back, offering the pale skin of her neck up to be kissed. He growled possessively as he bit down on the soft flesh, relishing her cry of passion.

"Hunter…Christ, _Hunt,_ " he groaned when she reached for his belt, hearing it come undone in her hands. Roughly, he hiked up the hem of her nightgown. When he slipped a hand between her legs to feel the heat and the wetness of her, _he_ was the one to whimper with need. He was painfully hard already and he _needed_ to be inside her. God help him, but he needed this too much.

_This is wrong. It's_ _**dangerous!** _

Sam groaned in both frustration and need, fighting to ignore the voice at the back of his mind as Hunter insistently yanked his jeans down. She growled as she reached forward to grip him in her hand, drawing him closer to her. Then a single finger reached back to trace his balls and he just about came right there.

"Hot damn, Winchester, just _fuck me!_ " she hissed in his ear, her breath hot and moist against his skin, and he would have liked nothing better than to do just that…except for that small flicker of doubt that still burned just below the surface.

_Damn it, Sam, get ahold of yourself. Don't_ _**do this!** _

It was wrong. If they did this…something bad would happen. They'd made a promise…not to give in.

"Hunt… _wait,_ " he whispered, feeling the word dragged from his throat almost against his will. "Something…something's _wrong._ "

"Sam?" she whispered back, voice thick with confusion as she blinked rapidly, struggling to fight off the haze.

"Damn it. _Damn it!_ " he hissed. It took every ounce of will power he had to push himself back from her. He barely even noticed when he tumbled off the bed.

For a long while after, they both just lay where they had fallen, breathing hard and struggling against the lust that still ran wild in their systems. One wrong move and he would be on her all over again. One wrong breath and she'd throw herself down on him. This time they'd have no hope of stopping. It could have been minutes or hours before either had finally calmed down enough to speak.

"I- I'm sorry," she choked out. "I didn't think…didn't know…I just…I shouldn't have suggested it. It was stupid."

"Not your fault," Sam mumbled weakly. "I was there, too…and I _do_ know what the mark of union can do. _I_ was the stupid one. I put us both in danger. We're just…gonna have to be more careful," he said, slowly sitting up and leaning against the bed, still not looking at her.

"It wouldn't be just ourselves we'd hurt…by being careless," Hunter said, her voice sounding a little closer, as if she'd laid her head next to the spot where his rested.

"No, it wouldn't. Cas…and his little girl…and Dean…all the people fighting with us. We'd put them in danger by letting Hannah get what she needs. We'll just have to take a leaf out of Dean and Cas' book," he said with a pained laugh.

"What? Pretend there's nothing between us?"

"Right," he said, the word tasting sour in his mouth. He'd spent years, both subtly and not so subtly, pushing his brother and the angel together, and now it had finally happened, he was going to do the same damn thing that had been driving him crazy all that time. There was something both maddeningly funny and hideously painful about the whole situation.

Neither of them said anything, but after a time, Sam felt a hand grasp his. For a moment, he felt the same burst of _need_ flicker awake in the pit of his stomach, but when he gripped Hunter's hand just that little bit tighter, it eased. Even if he couldn't tell her how much he wanted her…how much he cared about her…it was better to at least have her hand to hold than to not have her at all. This simple point of contact would be enough to sustain them for now.

It would _have_ to be enough.

XxX

Having lived a good portion of his life as a trickster, Gabriel could certainly understand the need to change form every now and then, but sometimes he really wished Heaven would make up its Dad damn mind.

In the beginning, it had just been the Garden and they'd all lived in peace, but then humanity had come onto the scene and Lucifer had thrown his little hissy fit. Dad hadn't stuck around much longer after that and what little Gabriel had seen of Michael's new regime had just about made him sick, so he'd split, too. Returning to Heaven after the Cage had been sealed had been the interesting part, though…interesting to watch Raphael slowly lose control when he couldn't do everything that Michael had done. Gabriel had had a good laugh over the situation, watching from the shadows, but then had watched Castiel rise with no small amount of worry. Somehow, he couldn't help feeling he'd seen something like it happen before, even though he had no idea what, and when Cas had finally fallen, Heaven had been left in an even worse state of chaos than before. Naomi and others had tried to tame that chaos and failed dismally. He might have warned Naomi about Metatron if he'd known she had the former scribe in her torture chamber, but he didn't find out until it was too late and they were all plummeting to Earth.

As far as an angel without wings went, Gabriel had done all right for himself. He knew the ins and outs of human living and he'd gotten himself by well enough, but then Metatron had dragged him back into the whole ugly business in order to get Cas to join him. If he'd really been worried about the clueless wonder and the wonder twins, he might have said no to Metatron's bit part, but he'd never really had any doubt everyone's favorite trio could handle the douche nozzle with a typewriter. So he'd played along, having his bit of fun, subtly letting baby brother know that, no, he hadn't been stupid enough to let himself get nailed by Lucy. He'd figured he'd just be able to sit back and watch Metatron's inevitable defeat.

But then this whole demon business had begun. He'd been able to keep enough of an eye on Cas to know about the little bundle of joy and about the quest Hannah had set herself on and it was only now that he was starting to worry about things. Just what was the old scribe trying to do?

Getting back into Heaven hadn't been even remotely difficult for the archangel. The place had taken on the barely controlled chaos of Naomi's attempt at leading. Having lived near a year on Earth, the angels were just different beings now. With Gabriel's massive bag of tricks, he was hardly even noticed slipping into the prison. The only one to see him was the angel he'd come to talk to.

"Well, well, well," Metatron began, looking far more pleased than anyone locked up in a cell had a right to, "if it isn't you. Now what could the burnt out archangel possibly want with the likes of me?"

"I wanna know what your game is, a-hole. Clearly your script didn't play out like you'd written it, so now you're leading Hannah around by the nose, getting her to do your dirty work. Just what are you trying to do here?" Gabriel asked, arms crossed as he surveyed the renegade scribe. Metatron grinned lazily as he came to lean against the bars of his cell.

"Oh, Gabe, Gabe, Gabe. Sad to say that's where you're _wrong._ "

"What do you mean?"

"Do you really think the angel tablet was all I had going for me? If anything it was just phase one of a much larger operation," he explained as he examined his nails.

"So you winding up in the slammer was all part of the plan?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It was surely a contingency I'd planned for. I would have been content just to play God, but never in a million years did I think the dream team would just sit back and let me. No. Y'see, Gabriel, there are much higher positions to strive for in this little reality of ours than just pretender to the throne. There are ways of actually _becoming_ God. And by doing exactly what I knew they would, Dean and Castiel have taken me just that little bit farther on the path to reaching that goal," Metatron explained, grin growing just that little bit more unhinged as he watched Gabriel watch him.

"The hell are you talking about?" the archangel demanded, eyes narrowing as he continued to survey the other angel.

"Ah, my glorious Bond villain moment," Metatron began, looking almost starry-eyed as he glanced upward. "Of course Dean was going to go after the First Blade. It was the only way he was going to take down Abaddon or myself, and of course he hates himself enough to sacrifice his soul to the Mark. We all know Dean Winchester will give anything to save the world in which his baby brother and his angel are. So when he came to me with the First Blade, I gave him what he wanted. He got to die for them and I got what I needed: a demon in love with an angel. More specifically, a demon able to procreate with an angel."

"So it was your plan to kill little Winchester from the get go?" Gabriel asked, knowing it wouldn't take much to keep Metatron talking, but also deriving some measure of fun from the back and forth himself.

Metatron tapped a finger against his temple. "Just so. I knew the Mark wouldn't let him go. Gotta say, though, getting put in the lock down was almost worth it to see the look on Castiel's face when I told him Dean was dead."

At this, Gabriel very seriously considered smacking Metatron upside the head, which was the human equivalent of taking a jackhammer through the skull, but Metatron just chuckled as he watched his anger boil beneath the surface.

"Oh, Gabriel, is that defensiveness I'm seeing? Concerned for our baby brother are we? Since when do _you_ care about other angels? As I recall, you walked out on Heaven. No different than God. No different than _me._ "

"Don't you be lumping me in with you dead beats, dick face. I may not be running a fucking charity here, but I don't wanna see it fall apart either. Cas has been through enough. I hope you don't think I'm just gonna kick back and watch you use him like this."

"So you were fine with me using him before, then? Is that what I'm hearing?" Metatron fired back at him, raising an eyebrow.

"We aren't talking about before. We're talking about _now._ How exactly is Cas having a kid supposed to help you become God? What's this bullshit about a fifth archangel?"

"You don't believe me? You haven't felt the _truth_ of it calling to you every time you hear her name? Israfil. You don't remember her? Your _sister._ "

Gabriel didn't want to admit it, but it was true. Just like the others, he'd felt that same grain of truth in the name, that same pain and pity. Logically, he knew he'd never heard the name before Cas had spoken it aloud, but a conscious being was composed of more than just logic. Something in him recognized the name.

"Sister," he said softly, almost without thinking about it. The word felt strangely _right_ on his tongue.

"That's right. Of you first five, Israfil was the one who preferred 'sister' over 'brother'. You would remember best of the archangels, I suppose, seeing as how you fought beside her against Heaven."

"Me? Rebel? Now I _know_ you're making shit up. After all I'm a lover, not a fighter, as they say," he tried to argue, not wanting to show Metatron that he'd got to him.

"Oh, you rebelled, Gabe. I promise you that. _Somebody_ had to remember it all after God made everyone else forget. That somebody was me. Just like all his other secrets, God entrusted this one to me. With Israfil was buried the secret of ascending to the Godhead of this reality. She would've achieved it back then if Michael hadn't stepped in at the last minute and destroyed the child she was about to give birth to."

"So that's what the kid's for?" Gabriel pressed, feeling he was finally getting close to getting some actual information from the former scribe.

"Mm, to a degree. More important was to have Dean and Castiel ascend to the level they're at now. Demonic seed and angelic grace aren't meant to combine and when they do, well…the rules change," Metatron said with a shrug. "Doors that were once closed open again. Reality can be rewritten. I knew Dean would sacrifice himself, like he always does, and Castiel wouldn't be able to let him go, like he never can. Always those two closeted idiots were chasing after each other and when they finally gave in to that metric fuck ton of unresolved sexual tension…the game changed, just like I knew it would."

"I don't have to let you live, y'know," Gabriel informed him, giving his knuckles a very showy crack. "What's to stop me from killing you and your little scheme right here and now?" he asked, calling his archangel blade to his hand.

"Well, let's think. You can either stay here and kill me…or you could go warn the fledgling rebel alliance about the slaughter the host of Heaven is about to let fall on them."

" _What?_ " Gabriel demanded, immediately springing forward and seizing the cell bars in his free hand. Metatron took several steps back. "No fucking way. They don't know about the kid. You're lying."

"Dean knows. He's about to make his move…and when he does, Heaven will learn just how powerful the pair of them have become. I don't think our brothers will react well to seeing Castiel turn on them again, and all for the sake of Dean Winchester and their unholy brat. Heaven will fall on the castaways he's gathered to him, probably before even _he_ can do anything to save them. Gonna let them all die, Gabe? Just to kill me?"

Gabriel deliberated for several tense moments, seriously considering just tearing into the cell and ripping the smug dick bag to pieces, but ultimately he tore himself away with a loudly snarled, " _Fuck!_ " As he hurried out of the prison, he called over his shoulder, "Don't think we're done here, douche weed! I'll be back!"

"Looking forward to it. Give Castiel my best," he called after him before kicking back in his cell and grinning up at the bare ceiling. "And now things _really_ start to get interesting."

XxX

None of them could quite name what it was, but it seemed to the bunker's inhabitants that they'd all been waiting for something to happen ever since Sam and the others had returned from Fall River. Tek and Kiah had come back with them and Circe had sent Atreus, Sekhmet, and Rachael along with them, which Elaine had had absolutely no objection to. They all understood what was happening. They were gearing up for a fight. They just had no idea when the blow would come.

Crowley found himself much more unnerved by the silence outside the bunker than within it. He hadn't heard anything from any of his teams since he'd assigned Lastelle to Fall River. As none of the little hunters had gone out on a hunt recently, there'd been nothing for Magdalene to report on. There had been complete radio silence from the team tracking Hannah and the one tracking Dean and his followers. Even if nothing had changed, they should have been reporting in regularly. Something was going to happen soon and he would be completely unprepared for it when it did. The fact that Hunter had been incessantly plucking away at the strings of her guitar for the past few hours was also doing nothing for the demon king's nerves. This was the reason he found himself barging into her room with a snarl in his throat.

"Now look here, love. Just because you're Moose's new favorite doesn't mean you get to- ah…hmm. Am I…interrupting?" he found himself asking when he realized exactly what he was looking at. He raised an eyebrow in mild interest as he glanced around the room. "Moose isn't lurking about, is he?"

Hunter tilted her head to the side as she looked at him, her expression the very picture of innocence. "No on both counts. Why do you ask?"

"Well…the fact you're probably not wearing a single scrap of clothing behind that very conveniently placed instrument rather speaks for itself, now doesn't it," he said. Hunter was sitting on her bed with her guitar situated in her lap, positioned in just such a way as to keep the interesting parts covered.

"Mm, dunno if you've heard this about me, but I do prefer a clothing optional approach. That would be the reason the door was locked," she pointed out, glancing pointedly over the demon king's shoulder. "Can't have the innocent eyes of precious little demon kings being scarred for eternity, now can we."

"Yes, well, my type tend not to bother with doors if it can be helped. As for the proper order of business, why is not all that noise taking place in our perfectly good sound-proofed music room?"

"Well, I do apologize for a guitar that hasn't been played in years needing new strings. I'm also one hundred percent certain that if you didn't want to hear it, you wouldn't. The question then becomes…why does the demon who would be king need somebody to nag?"

"I'll answer your question if you answer mine," he returned, suddenly curious as to why she'd tried to dodge it. Hunter looked away from him, silent for several long moments before answering.

"Maybe some of us don't like being led around like sheep. Maybe we prefer to have a say in the direction our lives go. Certain feelings have a way of…complicating that preference," she said, looking up at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Ah, Moose's heart, you mean," he said. The pair had of course told them what had happened with Hannah and the mark of union and while Castiel had been wrapped up in guilt over the situation, Hunter and Sam had been tiptoeing around each other. They were a pair of ticking time bombs just waiting to go off. Normally Crowley would be enjoying the supernatural soap opera with a bowl of popcorn and a glass of scotch, but with things as they currently were, there wasn't exactly time to make fun. "Well, don't suppose we'd be us any longer if Moose actually got something he wanted. Surely hope you're not going back to starving yourself. Then we'll be in real trouble."

"No," Hunter said, raising an eyebrow as she continued to survey him. "I've got a few things stashed. But is that actual _concern_ I'm hearing from you? Are you _worried_ about Sam?"

"Me? Worry? Now you're just imagining things, love. You haven't been dealing with me for very long, so maybe I should explain things to you. We might _seem_ to be working together, but as with most demons, I'm really only in it for myself. We'll partner up as long as it suits the lot of us, but when we get right down to it, I'll leave you all to die. Winchester, Serra, Castiel, doesn't matter who. That's how we've always done things and that's how we'll go on doing things. I won't disappoint you on that," he said, brushing off the accusation of having felt concern without a second thought, but he would admit to feeling a touch of fear when the gunsmith continued to stare at him, discerning.

"Y'know…I don't think I believe you. Maybe the others don't see it because you've all been at odds for so long, but it seems to me you _do_ care about what happens to them, even if it's only in the smallest capacity."

"Believe that if you want to, darling, but you should know that kind of thinking'll only get you and everyone you care about killed. Tends to happen around you, doesn't it," he said with a sneer. It wasn't difficult to push back the feelings she accused him of having. What _was_ difficult was acknowledging that they existed at all.

Hunter shuddered briefly, but when she looked back up at him, the certainty remained firm in her eyes. "We'll see who's right when we come down to it, but we aren't talking about me right now. While we're on the subject of you, what's the answer to _my_ question?"

Crowley might have answered her honestly, except that was the moment the world turned itself upside down yet again.

The demon king felt the summons like a cold pulse of energy crawling up his spine, congealing in his brain like a fog of absolute terror…the horror of the being at the other end of the connection.

 _Sir,_ Kaoru's strained, weakened voice came to him through the flickering link. _Sir…I'm sorry. We tried to stop it._

"What happened?" he asked aloud.

_He knows. Sir…Dean Winchester knows about the child._

" _Shit!_ " he snarled. Without stopping to give any further explanation, he zapped out of the bunker, immediately answering to his agent's call.

XxX

"Castiel, I understand you feel this is your doing, but I really just don't think it wise to summon an agent we have no way of knowing the allegiance of," Lailah explained calmly while watching the younger angel pace the floor of her room.

"I know this cherub is an ally of Hannah's, but I feel almost certain if we explained the situation to him, he'd be willing to undo the mark. Hannah can't have told him all. I can't stand to see them used like this. Sam and Hunter should be free to choose their own way," Cas argued. "I know all too well what it is to suffer the pain of love in silence. I won't watch them suffer in my name."

"Little one, I'm sad to have to say it, but _many_ will suffer in your name before this is over. I warned you when this began that you would suffer for this child. It isn't just your own pain, but the pain of your friends and loved ones you must also bear. That is the sort of change our suffering will buy. I know you don't like it, but you need to respect your friends enough to allow them the dignity of their choice. They're ready to give everything they have or might have had in order to see this through to the end."

"Lailah, how can I-"

"Cas! Lailah!" Hunter shouted as she rushed down the hall, out of breath when she appeared in the open doorway. She appeared to have dressed in a hurry, because her jean shorts were only half closed and the top she'd thrown on was inside out. "Something's wrong."

"What happened?" Lailah asked her, standing up from her bed and moving toward her.

"I'm not sure. Crowley just about had a panic attack then disappeared. I don't know what, but somethin's up. I don't like it."

Cas could see Lailah responding to Hunter, but he could hear nothing. As had happened all the previous times Dean had called out to him, all other sound seemed to be canceled out in favor of his voice.

_Hey, Angelface. Been a while since we talked, hasn't it._

_Dean,_ he called back hesitantly in his mind, not daring to speak aloud this time.

 _You've been keepin' secrets from me, haven't you…Castiel,_ that familiar and unfamiliar voice growled quietly, resounding in his soul.

 _I don't know what you mean,_ he responded, even though he knew Dean could feel his fear through their connection. Why had he let him in? Why hadn't he just shut him out?

_You've never been a very good liar, have you, angel baby. Why didn't you tell me the_ _**real** _ _reason we were gettin' so strong?_

_Dean, there_ _**is** _ _no-_

_STOP LYING TO ME!_ The voice lanced into the angel's being like a bolt of lightning, causing him to drop to his knees, clutching his head in pain. He didn't even notice when the two women rushed to his side. _You're_ _ **pregnant,**_ _Castiel. You're gonna have my kid and you didn't think_ _ **I**_ _might wanna know that?_

"Oh, God," Cas whispered, feeling tears start to pour down his face as his entire being was overcome by pain and terror. What could he do? What to prevent Dean from harming their little girl? How could he keep their child safe?

XxX

When Crowley reached the summoning point, he found himself in some sort of old greenhouse. A corpse lay on a pile of dead plants in the corner, still bleeding from the throat. Dana was keeping watch at the door, his buff meatsuit spattered with blood. Kaoru was lying on a table, also blood-spattered, but more with his own blood than their human sacrifice. Akilina was holding up the cup of blood he'd been using to communicate.

"What the _hell_ happened?" Crowley demanded of them. "I don't hear from you lot for weeks on end and then you come back with _this?_ What have you been doing? Sleeping on the job?"

"Winchester's onto us," Dana explained without turning to look back at him. "He had Lina and I chasing shadows while he was setting this whole thing up. We couldn't help Kaoru until now."

"I've been on the run," the younger demon choked out, struggling to sit up and failing. "If I'd stopped for even a minute, they would have had me. I saw…what he did to Olivia. I didn't want to be next."

"Take it easy, kid," Akilina warned him, breaking off his attempts to sit up. "You still need time to heal."

"Bugger, bugger, bugger!" Crowley snarled under his breath, kicking over several old pots as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "What happened? How did he find out?"

"Hannah told him. She wanted to make some sort of bargain with him. Liv and I tried to stop her, but we were too late. Then…Liv…I don't…he pulled her out of the meatsuit and…he was just tearing her to shreds," Kaoru recounted, shuddering at the memory. "I couldn't do anything. I got the fuck outta dodge."

"He let you go," the demon king said. "If he didn't want you to get away, you wouldn't have. He wanted us to see this…to know what he can do. I think it's also safe to say Miss Olivia's not dead."

"I don't see how. If _anyone_ could survive that, I wouldn't want to see them after the fact."

"No," Crowley said, shaking his head slowly. "There's no way he doesn't know who she is…who all of you are. In order to deal with Hannah, he's going to need what Olivia has. He'll keep her alive, or worse."

"Worse?" Dana asked, glancing back at them. "What do you mean worse?"

"I mean he'll keep Hannah alive to make a deal with Olivia. But for that he would need the First Blade…so that's how he'll draw his naïve little angel to him," Crowley mused.

"And there's no way to stop it from happening?" Akilina asked.

"Well, only chance to locate them is to track Olivia. So here's to hoping our squirrelly pretender is in the market for an audience," Crowley said. He knew he'd never be able to stop Cas from going to Dean. Experience had taught him he'd have more luck stopping the Earth from spinning. The only real hope they had was to anticipate the time and place and try to interfere before either party could do something _truly_ stupid.

XxX

 _How did you find out?_ Cas asked, forcing himself to ignore Lailah, Hunter, and now Sam as well. He had to block out everything else and focus solely on Dean if he was going to maintain even the illusion of control.

_Little birdy told me, of course. The little birdy's here with me now. I think she'd appreciate it if you stopped by for a visit._

_Hannah,_ Castiel returned softly, realizing that the other angel must have gotten in over her head. _What have you done to her?_

_Nothin' that can't be undone, but like I said, she'd like to see you…alone…with the Blade in hand…so we can talk things over. Otherwise something might happen that can never_ _**un** _ _happen._

_Dean, I don't…I do not believe I can trust you._

_I'm not gonna hurt either of you if that's what you're worried about. You and the little angel'll be safe when you come here. Not gonna risk this new power, after all. No promises for our little birdy, though. That depends on you. Come to me, pretty angel,_ he called to him, clearly broadcasting his location.

_Dean…_

_Angelface…how long are we gonna pretend you haven't already made your choice?_

Cas sighed painfully before finally looking up at the three surrounding him. He offered them all a sad smile before whispering, "I'm sorry," and vanishing.

"Cas? Damn it! _Cas!_ " Sam shouted.

"Lailah, can you find him?" Hunter asked her.

"Not if he doesn't want me to, and he most assuredly does not," the elder angel said, the beginnings of anger sparking in her own eyes.

"Where is he?" a new voice suddenly demanded. The two humans and the angel all looked up to see the new arrival.

"Gabriel?" Lailah whispered in shock.

"Yeah, hi, Mom. Missed you, too, but seriously, where's Cas?" he asked, turning more to Sam and Hunter. Lailah didn't give them a chance to respond, though, as she launched herself at the archangel and enfolded him in a massive bear hug.

"I thought you were dead!" she cried, her words muffled against the other angel's chest. Gabriel glanced helplessly over her shoulder at the other two, still pressing for an answer.

"Uh…he…literally just took off," Sam said, still getting over the appearance of someone who was supposed to have died five years ago. "Not five seconds ago. We have no idea why."

"And you have no idea _where_ , either, do you," the archangel said, the tone of his voice letting them know _exactly_ what he thought of their intelligence. "Well, shit."

"Gabriel, what's going on?" Lailah asked, finally releasing him from her death grip.

"Saddle up the cavalry, Mama. Looks like we're gonna have to batten down the friggin' hatches," Gabriel announced, summoning up a shotgun from thin air. "Forget Hell. All _Heaven's_ about to break loose."

XxX

When Cas first appeared, he couldn't see anything. The world was completely dark. Fighting the urge to grip the Blade now in his coat and give its location away, he called out, "Dean? I've done as you asked. Now let Hannah go!"

The oppressive, inky darkness was finally shattered by a ring of holy fire lighting up…only it wasn't lighting up around him. The ring was springing up at the far end of the room to imprison Hannah.

"Castiel," she called out softly, strangely calm for the situation she was in. He would have expected to see fear in her eyes, but there was none of that. No. If there was anything in Hannah's eyes, it was sorrow.

"Hannah, what have you done?" he started to ask as he moved toward her, meaning to erase the holy fire, but was interrupted before he could do it.

"Leave her," Dean commanded, voice strangely gentle. "You and me have things to talk about."

As Cas looked to the source of the voice, more of the room seemed to light up of its own accord. They appeared to be in some sort of mountain lodge, and Dean was just across the way from him, sitting on a large, well-furnished bed. The expression on his face was one Cas couldn't seem to identify. One moment it seemed predatory and lustful and the next it almost seemed…longing? He didn't know.

"Hello, Dean," Cas started slowly, knowing it would be foolish to move closer to the demon, but also afraid to step back from him.

"Hey, Angelface," he returned quietly.

"I am here…alone, as you asked, and I have brought the First Blade."

"I believe you," Dean said, his expression slowly shifting into a smug smile. "You didn't tell them where you were going, did you?"

"No."

"Good. Unfortunately, not all the pieces have shown up yet, so we can't get started. We'll have to wait until everyone's here."

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked, feeling a flicker of fear in the pit of his stomach.

Dean laughed at this, his expression growing all the more smug. "Oh, angel baby, there is so much more goin' on here than you know. Guess you could call this our baby shower. Guests have already started showin' up. See?" he said, nodding toward another corner of the room. When Cas followed his gaze, he saw another circle appear. Only it wasn't holy fire this time. It was a devil trap. Charlie was standing inside with another demon he'd never seen tied to a chair. Whatever they'd done to her, she was broken and bleeding badly.

"Who is she?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Oh," he started, glancing toward the ceiling. "Looks like we have another guest."

At this, Crowley suddenly appeared in the third corner of the room, a look of panic on his face.

"Cas!" he shouted. "Get out of here _now!_ "

"Uh, uh, uh. I don't think so," Dean chastised, and with a snap of his fingers, the demon king was imprisoned in yet another devil trap.

"Bollocks!" Crowley snarled, stamping a foot against the floor in frustration.

"How did you find me?" Cas asked, confusion mixing in with the fear he was feeling.

"Tracked her," Crowley said, nodding toward the incapacitated demon. "By the way, how're we doing, Olivia?"

"Ain't dead, boss," she groaned in clear agony. "Course…that ain't…sayin' much."

"Why would you want him to leave, Crowley? We're only just gettin' started," Dean said, smirking at his prisoner. Crowley didn't acknowledge him, though. He turned his focus purely on Cas.

"Castiel, I need you to forget the fact that we've been at odds for the past six years. I need you to forget the fact that we hate each other because I need you to _trust me_ right now. I don't care what this punk ass pretender to the throne's been telling you, what he's been saying's going to happen here tonight. I need you to forget what he's promised you, take the First Blade, and get your holy arse end the fuck out of here!" he shouted at him.

Torn, Cas glanced between Crowley and Dean, and when the younger demon caught his gaze, he smirked faintly at him.

"You can do what he says. I surely can't stop you from leaving. But one thing I will promise you is this. If you leave, they'll all die. Hannah, the bitch king, that little demon Charlie's got trussed up over there, and our last guest, whenever he makes an appearance. So you can leave and let them all die…or you can come sit with me and we can talk about this," Dean said, shifting his legs subtly wider, implicitly informing the angel just what that conversation would entail.

"Don't do it, Cas," Crowley warned him when he glanced back in the demon king's direction. "You can't trust him."

Cas sighed heavily, staring at the floor for several minutes, as he had nowhere else to look. "You say that as if I don't already know it. I understand what it means…but what other choice do I have?" he asked, finally looking up at Dean again. This time, the demon's sneer softened somewhat and he held out a hand to him.

"That's right, Castiel. Come to me."

_Come be with the Righteous Man._

Cas inhaled sharply at hearing the demon's voice in his head. He glared at Dean briefly, but ultimately did as he was bid, moving to the bed and taking the hand Dean offered him. The demon leered as he pulled him in close. Again, the angel gasped quietly at the sudden intimate press, but before Dean could do anything more, another circle of holy fire lit up as the fourth guest Dean had spoken of entered the room.

Cas glanced over his shoulder, mind already half in a daze from his demon's proximity, only barely registering the bewildered expression on the new angel's face.

"Matarael?" he murmured in confusion.

"Dean, what is this?" he heard Hannah demanding. Dean laughed again.

"Well, all the pieces are in place. Now the rest of you only get to watch…watch and _listen,_ " he said, slowly drawing a finger to his lips. Cas immediately felt the power spread throughout the room, compelling Hannah, Crowley, and Matarael to fall silent.

"That's better," Dean said, focusing his attention back on Cas. "It's just you and me now. They won't interfere. So…let's talk about this kid."

"It happened…that night," Cas said softly, knowing he wouldn't be able to tell Dean anything but the truth. "It shouldn't have been possible…"

"But you and me…we did it," Dean finished when he couldn't. Being gentle, he moved a hand up to caress the angel's belly through his shirt. "I'm guessin' this little tyke is what restored your grace."

"Yes."

"This is what you wanted to tell him, isn't it. The secret Crowley tried to keep from me," he said, continuing to stroke the place where their child grew.

"It is," Cas responded, glancing away from the demon in guilt. He hated himself for it, but he was latching onto this like it was a normal moment…like he and Dean were just normal parents, happy they were going to have a baby…not the angel and demon who had potentially conceived the bringer of the next apocalypse. For a moment…just one moment…he wanted to love Dean, and he wanted to love their child…just to be a family without any of the hideous complications that went with it. Without thinking, he rested his own hand on top of Dean's and they continued the gentle caressing motions together.

"Oh, but that pussy would just _love_ this. You havin' his kid, nice little slice of apple pie life. Boy or girl?"

"Girl," the angel answered, swallowing painfully. He knew just how right the demon was, just how much Dean would love to be a father…how horrible it was he wouldn't be able to have this moment. "Our daughter…"

"Heh, we're havin' a kid…but you still wanna fight to keep things the way they were," Dean said, the quiet tenderness in his voice suddenly shifting to something threatening as his grip on Cas tightened.

"What- what do you mean?" Cas asked, struggling briefly to free himself from the hold.

"They'll never let this baby live. You _know_ that. Little birdy's tryin' to get together a spell to get rid of her and as your other feathery friend listens to this, he's already tryin' to figure how to get the word to Heaven. When we're done here, they're gonna know everything. Heaven is _never_ gonna stop hunting her…and you still wanna stop me from takin' over."

"You misunderstand me if you think I won't fight for her," Cas said calmly, gripping the hand that had so lately been stroking his stomach. "I will fight until the end of time to keep her safe. Heaven has no right to decide if she lives or dies. I _will_ protect our child, Dean, and if doing that means sacrificing everything I am, then I will do it. There's only one thing I won't give up for her."

"And what's that?" Dean asked, even though he clearly already knew the answer.

"You. I won't lose you or her. I've fought too long to have you to lose the two of you now…and that's what will happen if I let you take over Heaven. I'm not fighting for them or for any world order. I don't _care_ what happens to Heaven. The only thing I'm fighting for is my family," he said firmly, though his hand was tentative when he reached it up to stroke the side of Dean's face. He couldn't help the tiny flicker of warmth he felt when the demon leaned into the touch.

"That's what I'm fightin' for, too, Angelface. Guess we just have different ideas about what that should involve. Me, I say if the world ain't willin' to let our kid live just 'cuz of what she is…or let us be together 'cuz of what we are…then I say it's time for a change. You and me…we have the power now, Castiel. We aren't subject to _anybody_ anymore. Not even _God._ We can make things the way we want 'em to be. Don't you _get_ that? Don't you see what I'm tryin' to give you…Cas," he said softly, almost pleading, and for a single painful, beautiful moment, Castiel thought he could see the gentle, adoring eyes of the man he loved looking back at him.

"I _do_ see it, Dean," he whispered, pressing his forehead against the former hunter's as he pulled him into his lap, not wanting him to see the tears he knew were gathering in his eyes, "and I love you the more for it. I understand, but I made this same mistake once before. I know where this road leads, and I won't watch you destroy yourself for my sake," he said before pressing his lips to Dean's, feeling a spike of desire shoot through his being as the demon responded eagerly, pressing into the kiss and wrapping his arms even tighter around him. Already he could feel his vessel responding to Dean's touch. He'd been lost from the moment his demon lover had called out to him and he'd known it.

Dean growled possessively as he tore open the buttons on his shirt, fingers groping harshly at the skin underneath. Cas groaned as those hands reached further in. Then they both gasped, feeling the jolt when Dean's hand brushed against the First Blade.

"I want you to give me that," Dean whispered harshly against his lips, tongue briefly flicking out to taste the abused skin again.

"It's right there. You can take it…anytime you want," Cas replied, leaning his head back so Dean would have better access to his neck. He knew what would happen if he didn't hand over the ancient weapon.

"No. I'm not gonna take it. I want you to _give it to me…_ with full understanding of what it means when you do," he challenged, pulling back for only a moment in order to pull his own shirt up and over his head. Then he went right back to peppering the angel's neck with bruises.

"Dean…ungh…" he groaned, the sound turning into a sharp gasp as a thumb brushed over a single exposed nipple.

"Come on, Angelface. Give it to me," he hissed as he snapped open Cas' belt and undid his pants. Cas writhed briefly against him, but ended up shaking his head.

"Dean…please…don't-"

"Not gonna do it?" the demon asked, shooting a threatening look over Cas' shoulder. "Charlie-"

" _No!_ " Cas cried out, hastily reaching into the half-off trench coat and thrusting the Blade into Dean's hands, looking away in shame as he did it.

"That's better," Dean said, shuddering in pleasure at the familiar feel of the Blade in his hands…but almost immediately, he tossed the weapon onto the side table, focusing back on Cas. "Now…where were we?"

Cas looked back at Dean at this, uncertain of what it meant that the demon had been able to discard the Blade so easily. When he glanced down, he could see the Mark burning fiercely on Dean's arm, but the hunger in his eyes was focused solely on him.

"Dean…?" he started hesitantly.

"What? Worried about the others?" the demon asked with a raised eyebrow. Smirking faintly, he gave another quick snap of his fingers. "Now it really is just you and me."

Glancing back over his shoulder, Cas found an empty room. When he turned back to Dean, he started to ask, "What did you-"

"Same old trick. Just gave us our own little pocket dimension. All the guests are back in the real space waiting for us. We can take as long as we need," he said, pushing the coat and the ruined shirt off of the angel's arms. Then he reached up to caress the side of Cas' face, just as the angel had done earlier.

"We shouldn't…be doing this," Cas murmured even as he leaned into the tender touch. He couldn't stop the tears from falling anymore.

"What's the matter, Angelface? You started this little game. Now you don't want to finish it?"

Didn't want to…couldn't not…either way, there was no way to win. Cas let the tears fall silently as he leaned in to kiss the demon again. Dean easily reached around to cup the back of his head, deepening the kiss. Both sighed softly as they moved in each other's arms.

Dean slowly lay back on the bed, pulling Cas on top of him. They languished in just kissing for a few more minutes before Dean began to push the last of Cas' clothing off. The angel didn't resist in any way, but when he was finally naked above the former hunter, he just sat there for several minutes, uncertain of what to do. Not quite looking Dean in the eye, he traced a hand up to his face, then ran his fingers through his hair.

"Kiss me," he finally whispered.

"What?"

"Kiss me," he repeated, only a little louder than before, still not looking the demon in the eye.

"Isn't that what we were just doin'?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I don't know. I just…I…" He couldn't explain himself and he couldn't bring himself to finish, but Dean didn't need him to. Slowly sitting up, the demon pulled him into his arms, drawing him in for a gentle kiss. Cas leaned into the easy embrace, tears flowing all the faster as they kissed. It just wasn't fair. He had longed to kiss this man for so long…and their first embrace had been as angel and demon.

Being careful to keep the kiss going, Dean slowly shifted their positions so that Cas was lying on his back and he was crouching over him. When he finally broke the kiss, he moved down the angel's body to press several lingering kisses to the pale flesh of his belly. At only three months' pregnant, there was only a slight swell, but Cas was still moved by the meaning behind the action, even though he knew he couldn't trust the demon. He hated the demon, but he loved Dean Winchester, and his love for Dean was one of the only things he still had any faith in. So, both exultant and heartbroken, Castiel let the demon have his way, pretending that he was with Dean, that they were really making love.

Cas wasn't fully aware of when it happened, but when Dean was finally readying him to be taken, the demon had somehow gotten him on his knees.

"Hngh…Dean," he gasped aloud when he felt two oil-slicked digits press gently into him. At the same time, Dean was leaning down close to his shoulders and laying kisses on every inch of skin he could reach, seemingly trying to ease the strain of his entry.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Cas was aware that something was off about all this. It was nothing like their first time. The demon had used him hard and left him bleeding, but now he actually seemed to be concerned for his comfort and pleasure. If he'd been wiser about the situation, he might have questioned it, but he'd just missed Dean too much. He _needed_ this too much…needed this tenderness from Dean all too much.

"Ready for me, angel baby?" the demon asked when he'd opened him enough. Cas nodded vaguely, more than half gone from pleasure.

"Yes," he moaned, crying out only faintly when Dean entered him. It was both bliss and agony as their bodies molded together – bliss on the physical plain, but acute agony as their true astral forms united, meshing that which couldn't be meshed. It was the height of Heaven and the deepest pit of Hell all at once and Cas was so lost in all of it, he had no idea if he should scream in rapture or anguish.

"You up there with me, sweet angel?" he could hear Dean panting in his ear as he thrust into him over and over again.

"Dean… _Dean!_ " he cried out, unable to give voice to anything else as they moved closer and closer to climax. Unlike their first time, he could feel the cosmic power they'd raised swirling through them, flowing and ebbing between them like waves out on the ocean, like solar fire across the surface of a blazing star. All of reality was suddenly open to them and neither could fully grasp what it was they held between them.

_I love you._

It was all they could do to remain anchored to their vessels, to each other. Cas was barely aware of the physical connection anymore, but was brought back to it the moment he felt Dean's hand pressing against his stomach, holding him close, and tenderly caressing the tie that bound them…their little girl.

The Rose of Sharon.

_I hate you._

Castiel could feel the tears on his face as his hand moved to join Dean's. He'd never been closer to him, and yet with every move, he was reminded that it wasn't really him. He wasn't with him yet. How would he ever forgive himself for this?

_My faith is with you._

And even then, in that strange space between eternities, for a single wavering moment, Castiel thought he _could_ see the true Dean Winchester…the man he was fighting so hard to get back to. Even if it was only for a moment, in that infinitely infinitesimal reality, it seemed that with Dean, all things were possible.

_I believe in you, Dean. I believe in us. I won't give up on you._

It was in that moment, at the absolute height of his faith, hate, and love, that Castiel reached completion, spending himself in a single strangled cry. As he slowly fell back into the reality he'd been born in, he could feel the burn of the demon seed inside him as Dean filled him with his essence.

Exhausted from the intense experience of being so thoroughly joined with Dean and then being so suddenly severed from him, Cas wasn't fully aware of what was happening. When he'd come at least partly back to himself, the first thing he became aware of was Dean stripping the sheets from the bed.

"What…what are you…?" he started to mumble in confusion.

Dean didn't wait for him to finish, though. As he moved away from the bed, Cas realized that their pocket dimension had broken down at some point, as Dean was now carrying the rumpled sheets over to the circle of holy fire that contained Hannah, casually tossing them to her over the flames.

"As agreed, one set of cum-soaked sheets, though don't expect me to help you with anymore of these."

"I…I don't understand," Cas said as he struggled to sit up. "What's happening?"

"You went to him willingly," Crowley stepped in to explain, a look of awe and fear still lingering on his face. "I told you to leave and you wouldn't listen. Now faith, hatred, and love have become one."

"No," Cas whispered in shock as the enormity of what had just happened descended on him. The fourth item…the perfect height of faith, hatred, and love…and they had used _him_ to create it. Hannah had used _his hands_ to bring herself one step closer to destroying his baby girl. " _God…_ no."

"Sorry about that, Angelface, but I had to give her something for tellin' me about the kid," the demon said, looking almost genuinely remorseful as he moved back to the bed to retrieve the First Blade. Cas could do nothing but stare at Hannah in shock and horror.

"You _used_ me," he accused her.

"I had no choice, Castiel," she said, turning away from him as she folded up the soiled sheet. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. You don't care. You're just afraid," he snarled at her. "I gave up our only advantage for _nothing!_ I should have let him kill you."

"If you still want me to, I'm more than willing, but I still need her for somethin'," Dean informed them as he moved toward the devil trap that held Olivia.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Hannah asked, starting to sound nervous. "You said we'd be set free."

"And you will be…just as soon as I get what I need. Hey, Olivia? You can hear me, yeah?" he called down to the near comatose demon. Her only response was a tiny flinch.

Dean laughed quietly, using the Blade to gently slap her arm. "I'm not gonna hurt you, Liv. In fact, I'm gonna give you a present. You're gonna get to die for your sister all over again."

Olivia's eyes opened wide at this, her eyes fixing on Dean in sudden fear. "How…how do you know-"

"Who you were? What you died for? I know who all of you were before you came to Hell, you and your little posse…and I know why Crowley chose you. Power's got nothin' to do with it. Neither does loyalty. He chose you because you all gave your lives for someone else. You're not the typical scum that ends up in Hell. He was banking on the hope you might still have some integrity left in you. Isn't that right, bitch king?" Dean called to the demon king.

Crowley just shrugged. "No harm in trying a new strategy."

Dean shook his head, turning his attention back to Olivia with a smirk on his face. "Twelve years ago, your big sister was brain dead after a hit and run accident. Your parents were ready to take her off life support, but you just couldn't let go. Little Olivia made a deal with the Devil. You sold your soul to save your sister's life."

"Yeah, so? What's it to you?" Olivia asked, turning her head to the side and spitting out a mouthful of blood. Charlie immediately turned her head back up to face Dean.

"What it is to me is that I know that love still exists. I know. I did the same damn thing, went to Hell for my baby brother, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. If you're anything like me, I can make use of that."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm sayin' make a deal with _me,_ Olivia. Let me give you the power of a knight and I'll let her live," he said, pointing the Blade in Hannah's direction. "Or don't deal…and I'll kill her, and your sacrifice will've been for nothing."

"Olivia," Hannah whispered in horror and fear.

"Don't do it, Olivia," Crowley ordered her. "What's one less angel in the world?"

"I'm not talkin' about the angel. I'm talkin' about the human woman the angel's ridin' shot gun on. I'll put the Blade right through her skull. What's it gonna be, Olivia?"

For several moments, the young demon looked torn, but ultimately, her expression settled on something like anger and she set her jaw firmly before answering, "Don't…don't do that. I'll do it. I'll make the deal."

"Good girl," Dean said with a sneer, and before anyone could say anything else, he planted his lips on hers…right before he ran her through with the First Blade.

" _Olivia!_ " Hannah shouted.

The young demon made no sound of pain. She just slumped briefly in the chair before the chains restraining her snapped. Then Dean withdrew the Blade and Olivia's eyes blinked open, black once again. When she stood from the chair, all of her former injuries vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Better?" Dean asked her.

"Much. Thank you, Sir."

"Good," he said. Rather than waste the energy it would take to erase the trap, he simply scratched out a bit with the Blade, setting them all free. "You two get going. I'll be right behind you."

As the two knights headed out of the room, Dean went to douse the circle holding Hannah.

"She bought your life twice. Wouldn't go wasting it if I were you," he warned her. The angel spared him only a single glare before leaving with her prize.

The next prisoner Dean set free was Matarael, who immediately attempted to smite Dean upon being released. When nothing happened, Dean just laughed.

"That was cute, feathers. Sure hope your hosts perform better than that."

"This will not be allowed to stand. You will _both_ be punished. This abomination will be destroyed!" Matarael declared.

"Yeah, sure. Looking forward to it. In the meantime, angel bait, you run. You run for your god damn life. Tell Heaven what's comin' after 'em."

Matarael wasted no more words before fleeing the room, leaving only Crowley, Dean, and Cas remaining. Dean tossed the Blade up and down as he approached the trap that held the demon king.

"Y'know, I could kill you right now, but I think I want you to see this. I want you to know how hilariously outgunned you are," Dean said as he scratched away a bit of the trap. Crowley eyed the younger demon nervously as he stepped out of the trap.

"Oh, I'd say I've got a pretty good idea already."

"Better get goin' if you wanna make it back there in time."

Unlike the others, Crowley took a moment to glance worriedly at Cas, who was sitting on the bed in a sort of catatonic state.

"Don't worry about the angel. Leave him to me," Dean warned him, the threat quite clear in his glare. Crowley wasted no more time in getting out, leaving the angel and the demon alone in the room.

"What…what's going to happen?" Cas finally made himself ask.

"The angels won't come here. They're no match for us and they know it. They'll attack the bunker first, see if they can't wipe out some of our reinforcements.

"What?" he whispered in shocked horror, mind still reeling from the magnitude of Hannah's betrayal.

"That's right, Angelface, and you and me are gonna be there to take out their legions, show them who's really in charge now," he declared, but when he went to help Cas up from the bed, the angel seized his hand firmly, not allowing him to move.

"Castiel…what are you doing?"

"Dean…I can't let you. I'm not going to let you kill innocent people."

"You're serious?" the demon asked incredulously. "You're just gonna leave your friends to fight on their own?"

"No. They can handle themselves. I trust them, but I'm _not_ going to let us be involved. I'm not letting you leave."

"Come _on!_ " Dean growled, trying and failing to yank his arm free. "You don't really think you can keep me here, do you?"

"I know it. It may take all of my strength and we will probably end up paying for it, but if there's anything I can do, I'm going to do it. So _try me,_ Dean. I'm ready," he said, anchoring them firmly in place.

"All right, Angelface. You wanna go? Let's go!"


	12. Non Timebo Mala

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "Cas…and his little girl…and Dean…all the people fighting with us. We'd put them in danger by letting Hannah get what she needs. We'll just have to take a leaf out of Dean and Cas' book," he said with a pained laugh...
> 
> "Demonic seed and angelic grace aren't meant to combine and when they do, well…the rules change. Doors that were once closed open again. Reality can be rewritten. I knew Dean would sacrifice himself, like he always does, and Castiel wouldn't be able to let him go, like he never can. Always those two closeted idiots were chasing after each other and when they finally gave in to that metric fuck ton of unresolved sexual tension…the game changed, just like I knew it would."...
> 
> "They'll never let this baby live. You know that. Little birdy's tryin' to get together a spell to get rid of her and as your other feathery friend listens to this, he's already tryin' to figure how to get the word to Heaven. When we're done here, they're gonna know everything. Heaven is never gonna stop hunting her…and you still wanna stop me from takin' over."...
> 
> "You went to him willingly," Crowley explained. "Now faith, hatred, and love have become one."...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one certainly got off the ground faster than I anticipated. I hope you all continue to enjoy. Also, I don't imagine I need to translate this chapter title for you, you Winchester loving fools. : )

_Dean is more aware of the situation the next time he wakes from near oblivion. He has flashes of things he_ _**thinks** _ _he remembers. Kissing Cas…the feel of his bare skin beneath his fingers…but there are also…less pleasant images._

_Cas looking shocked and horrified…and the impression of a fight. It isn't a physical battle, but it's no less horrific. It's like the clashing of lightning bolts in scale and power…and he has the impression he'll do anything to beat Cas…but at the same time, he knows he mustn't harm him. He has no idea what any of it means, but those are the things in his head when he comes awake in the strange little dreamscape he shares with the angel._

_Cas isn't being tortured this time. It's more like the aftermath of torture. He sees the angel curled into a ball in some dark corner. He can't see any signs of physical hurt, but Cas is sobbing as if his heart is breaking._

" _Cas…" he whispers, even though he knows the angel can't hear him. He doesn't need the voice from before to tell him this is his fault. He knows that already._

" _Dean…_ _ **why?!**_ _" Cas cries out brokenly, and Dean feels his own heart breaking right along with him. He wishes he could give Cas an answer, ease his suffering in some way, but he has no idea what he's done to hurt him this time. All he knows is what he's already done…defiled their friendship…destroyed any chance of anything more they might have had…just like he's always known he would if he ever allowed himself to reach out and claim the angel for his own. He's already done the unthinkable to Cas. What more can he have done to hurt him?_

" _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Cas…I'm so sorry," he calls out over and over again as he crawls toward the angel…like a plea, a prayer. He crawls until he reaches the barrier that divides them from each other and even then he keeps trying to reach Cas. If he doesn't keep trying, it may legitimately kill him, and he can't die without letting Cas know how sorry he is for every hurt he's ever inflicted on him…without telling him how much he truly…deeply…_

" _Dammit, Cas!" he shouts, only then realizing he's sobbing just as hard as the angel. "Why's this gotta be so god damn hard? What am I supposed to do? Why did this have to happen?!"_

_There are no answers, though. There's only pain and guilt as he watches his angel suffer for what_ _**he** _ _did. Screaming, he continues to try and get through the barrier. Either this wall is going to break…or_ _**he** _ _is._

XxX

Matarael had fled the cabin as fast as he was able. Much as he'd tried to keep it hidden, he'd been terrified facing down Dean Winchester after witnessing just what kind of power he and Castiel were capable of. There had been no point in attempting to pursue Hannah, so he'd climbed into the BMW he'd been driving these last few weeks and roared out of the mountain pass as fast as the car could go. He wasn't certain how far he'd fled before he even considered attempting to report back.

_This is Matarael reporting from the Canadian Rockies. A most horrific thing has happened. Please…if anyone is listening, we must do something! We are all in great danger! Castiel is-_

_Matarael, stop,_ a firm voice suddenly overtook his connection to the angel wavelength, filling his being with a strange calm. He immediately brought the car to a stop in the middle of the deserted mountain forest. As he looked on, three angels appeared to him from the darkened woods, two in male vessels and one in a female vessel. Struggling to rein in his own vessel's ragged breathing, Matarael climbed out of the car and dropped to one knee before the three angels.

"Arakiel," he acknowledged the angel at the head of the group, who was cloaked in the vessel of a Native American man, not very tall, but still giving off an aura of power and presence. "How did you get here? Have you figured out how to move the gateway?"

"No," Arakiel began with a faint smile. "This is a new gateway entirely. You gave us the perfect opportunity to test the spell. It may well be the first step in finally reopening Heaven."

"That…that's wonderful," Matarael stuttered, knowing what a horrible burden it had been on the world for Heaven to be closed off.

"Now, you were saying you'd discovered Castiel's whereabouts?" Arakiel asked as he helped Matarael to his feet.

"I have. It's worse than anyone could have possibly imagined. It seems that…when Dean Winchester awoke as a demon, he sought Castiel out. They joined as one…and Castiel conceived."

Looking very disturbed, Arakiel shook his head. "That…it…it's just not possible. Angels and demons cannot mate."

"I know that as well as you do, Sir, but I think we both know that Castiel and Dean Winchester are different."

"Yes," Arakiel said slowly, nodding, but then he leveled a sharp gaze at Matarael. "Did Castiel consent to this union? Was he willing…or did the Winchester _force_ him?"

"I do not know. At a guess, I would say that Castiel was forced, as Dean Winchester is only just now finding out about their…child."

"Do not call it a child," Arakiel snarled, looking away from him in anger. "This creature is unnatural. It is neither nephilim nor cambion, not angel or demon or human. It is _nothing._ It cannot be allowed to exist. It must be destroyed, and if I find that the Winchester raped Castiel, I will destroy him as well."

"That's just it. I do not believe we _can_ ," Matarael said, fear slowly creeping in on him once more. "This…abomination…it is immeasurably powerful. It has made them powerful in turn. Just now…they engaged in intercourse again. Dean Winchester created a small pocket dimension for them, but…even _that_ couldn't contain the energy they raised. What I saw back there…it was creation…when the light and the dark were first separated from each other. This creature…I fear it has the power to destroy us all…to unmake reality if it comes to that. I don't know that we _can_ destroy it."

"We must try," Arakiel said, jaw set firmly with resolve. Then he turned to the angel in the male vessel. "Jeremiah, I want you to gather what members of your garrison you are able and wait for my signal. If I fail, I want you to be ready."

"Yes, Sir," Jeremiah responded before disappearing back into the forest.

"And Tzipporah, you are to prepare Heaven for siege. If the Winchester wishes to make war on us, we will fight to the last angel."

"As you command," Tzipporah responded before following after her companion.

"And you, Matarael, will take me back to the place you left Castiel and the Winchester."

For a moment, Matarael trembled with fear, but Arakiel's certainty of the righteousness of their mission gave him the courage he needed to follow him back into the car and drive back up the mountain.

The house looked no different than when he'd fled, but the energy signatures of a very intense conflict remained impressed upon the air.

"What happened here?" Arakiel whispered as they approached the cabin with blades drawn. "Is this the power that you spoke of?"

"No," Matarael whispered back, swallowing nervously. "That was when they were together…united. This…I couldn't guess why, but they fought."

Silence greeted the pair when they entered the cabin. Physically, nothing was out of place, but when they made their way into the bedroom, the press of malevolent energy was so strong, Matarael almost couldn't stay upright.

"This battle was mighty," Arakiel said in awe as he approached the bed where the angel and demon still lay. "Had it been in the physical realm, it well could have leveled this mountain range."

Castiel and Dean Winchester lay sprawled on the bed facing each other, both thoroughly unconscious. Castiel was naked and Dean was dressed only in a pair of jeans. Dean's ears were bleeding and thin trails of red also trailed from Castiel's eyes…almost as if he wept tears of blood. His hand still loosely gripped the demon's arm, even in sleep, and even now, beneath this façade of peace, the angels could see the dark flame that flared within the radiance of Castiel's grace. It had a strange kind of beauty to it, but whatever it was, it was also dark and dangerous. There was no way to know if this was holy light or hell fire. Something had to be done.

"Completely defenseless. If we are to do it, it must be now," Arakiel said quietly as he readied his blade. "Castiel…I pray you can forgive me for this."

However, as Arakiel was moving to strike at the abomination, a hand suddenly reached up and seized his wrist, imprisoning it in an iron grip. The angel looked down to see Dean Winchester staring up at him, eyes flickering between green and black.

" _Don't. Touch. Them,_ " the demon snarled, voice screeching out of his throat like some poor soul being tortured in the deepest pits of Hell. If he'd been capable of experiencing nightmares, Arakiel felt certain that tormented, enraged voice would haunt them all his days. The nightmare image became all the worse when the demon's eyes changed altogether, glowing an eerie red color.

Arakiel had no fear for his own safety, though. Yanking his arm free, he moved in for another strike at Castiel's exposed belly, but the moment his blade would have pierced flesh, it instead struck a barrier of impenetrable energy. The force of the intended attack turned back on itself, flinging the angel across the room like a doll. Castiel remained unconscious throughout, but the demon chuckled as his gaze slid up to Matarael.

"How 'bout you, angel bait? Wanna try it?"

Matarael didn't hesitate, even though he knew it would do no good. He struck, plunging his blade straight through the demon's skull. Dean only laughed louder, lapping at the blood that ran down his face. When Matarael removed the blade, he shook his head.

"Nope. Still here. Warned you," he hissed as the devastating injury easily healed over. "Try that shit with my Angelface and I'll turn you inside out when I wake up."

"I warned you before, demon. This will not stand," Matarael said again as he backed off. "We _will_ find a way to destroy this _monster._ "

The demon's eyes narrowed at this. "Go away, Heaven. Leave us alone. We'll kill you later."

With that, a ring of holy fire suddenly sprang into being around the bed, cutting off the two angels from their intended prey. Within the circle, Dean Winchester was unconscious once more, only now he held Castiel in his arms, pressed close against his chest…almost as if he were protecting him.

"All right," Arakiel murmured as he pulled himself to his feet. "We'll just have to go to the next step."

 _Jeremiah,_ he called to his lieutenant across the angel wavelength, _take your soldiers to Lebanon, Kansas. Lay waste to the Men of Letters bunker. If we cannot take our brother down directly, we must leave him no ground to go to. Annihilate anyone you find alive._

XxX

Generally, Sam Winchester considered himself a very adaptable person. The life of a hunter pretty much demanded it. Even Gabriel's return he had mostly managed to take in stride, but if someone had told him several hours ago that he would be standing in the war room with a ragged army that was equal parts human, demon, angel, and whatever Tek and Kiah were, planning a strategy to defend the bunker from a division of angels, well…he might have just shot that person through the head for presenting him with such an impossible task.

After Gabriel had explained to them what he'd learned from Metatron, Charlie had shown up at their door with a new demon, followed not long after by Crowley and another new group of demons. They had, understandably, been hesitant about letting so many demons into the bunker, but Crowley had assured that, for the moment at least, they were all on the same side. At first, Charlie and Olivia had been insisting that Dean would be making an appearance, but they were now down to the eleventh hour and neither he nor Cas had shown up. Whatever was keeping the two super powers, they couldn't wait around for them. The bunker was about to come under attack and they needed a battle plan.

"All right, boys and girls," Gabriel began, rubbing his hands together as he looked around at all of them. "I've been tuned into angel radio. Looks like Arakiel is sending out troops under the command of Jeremiah."

"Who's Arakiel?" Sam asked.

"Arakiel took over command when Cas refused the position. He's an old school type general and he was a big deal back in the Lucy war days. Cas actually served under him before becoming a commander himself. No idea what their thoughts are now, but they definitely respected each other at some point in the past. Like I said, though, the guy's old school. He's instigated martial rule in Heaven to try and get things back under control. If it's a war your brother wants, Arakiel will definitely give him one."

"So Jeremiah's one of his subordinates then?" Dorothy asked.

"Right. None of the garrisons are at full strength just now, thankfully, else we'd be totally effed in the a, but Jeremiah's the one with the biggest stick. At this particular moment, we've got a force of about forty angels bearing down on us and they ain't expecting much of a fight. That's where we've got the advantage. We'll split into four groups of four and I can set up traps around the bunker for them to trip. That way you can pick them off one by one."

Crowley chuckled mockingly at this. "How are the mighty fallen. Once upon a time an archangel would have been able to just wipe them all clean off the slate."

"A little credit please. The archangel batteries aren't exactly running at full capacity. I'm doing what I can. What's your excuse? Run outta Hell juice? Oh, wait, right. Little Winchester tossed you out on your ass. What have you got now, huh? A handful of demons and a broken toy that can't fight? Real impressive showing there."

Crowley fumed for a moment, but there was really nothing he could say against it.

"So…basically what I'm hearing is that each group's going to have ten angels to deal with?" Dana put in. The meatsuit he was occupying was tall and very muscular, with richly tanned skin and short black curls. The gaze of his brown eyes also seemed to be more direct than any of Crowley's other demons.

"That's the idea. They aren't going to see these gospels coming. Therefore, each team is gonna have two for distraction and two for the actual killing. Your team's going to consist of you, Akilina, Mags, and Lailah. You and Lailah'll be the distraction."

"So we'll be the only team without gospels?" Akilina clarified. Her meatsuit's physique was slender and strong, like she might have been a dancer. Like Dana, she was tall, but unlike his loose curls, her auburn hair was pulled up in a tight bun, making her blue eyes appear all the more severe.

"Got that right. No way we're giving gospels to demons," Hunter broke in.

"Not like it's a problem. I know you've all got angel blades," Gabriel pointed out. "You can kill just as easily with those."

"So I'm only to serve as a distraction?" Lailah asked, gaze briefly catching the elder angel's.

"Yeah. I know it bothers you…having to kill angels. Only do it if you have to," Gabriel told her, his look softening briefly.

"Thank you," she said quietly, closing her eyes as she bowed her head in deference to the archangel who looked on her as a mother.

"So what are the other group divisions?" Sam asked, trying to get back to the topic at hand.

"You and Hunter'll be with Tek and Kiah. They'll be your distractions. Take it you're still not up for issuing them gospels either?"

"No," Hunter answered firmly, though her gaze was almost apologetic as she looked to the two jackal spirits. "Nothing personal, we just don't have time to try and understand your angle in all this when _you_ don't even understand what it is."

"Understood," Tek responded, fingering his ankh pendant as he spoke. "We are, after all, not unschooled in fighting angels."

"Elaine and Rachael'll be the snipers on the next team, with Crowley and Olivia as their distraction."

The two young women said nothing at the archangel's announcement, just joined hands, ready for whatever they might face. For once, Crowley had nothing to say. He just glanced sideways at Olivia with uncertainty in his eyes. Olivia also said nothing, just continued to stare at Gabriel, as if she wasn't at all aware of the unnerved demon king.

"The last team'll be Dorothy and Sekhmet, with Charlie and Atreus as their distraction. Any other questions before Hunter distributes ammo?" Gabriel waited, but when no one said anything, he gestured to the gunsmith. "Your game, sweetheart. We deploy in ten minutes."

Wasting no time, Hunter hefted the box of ammunition that had been at her feet and set it on the world map table. "While we do have a healthy supply of these, they aren't unlimited and the raw materials aren't easy to come by, so I'm giving each gunner ten rounds. Each of you will have one chance to take out your targets, so I surely hope you don't miss," she informed them as she opened the box, motioning for the snipers to come forward for their ammunition. Once everyone was locked and loaded, Gabriel eagerly steepled his fingers together.

"Welp, no time like the present," he said, and with a quick nod of his head, the room was instantly emptied, leaving behind only himself, Merry, and Kaoru, the demon who was still too injured to fight.

"What – just happened?" Merry stammered out, looking around the room in shock.

"What happened is we just started a war," Gabriel said, and for those who didn't know him he would have seemed supremely confident in the outcome at that moment, but had Lailah still been there, she would have seen the touch of fear in his eyes.

XxX

In no more than the blink of an eye, Sam found himself in a heavily wooded area. If he didn't know better, he'd say he was back in Purgatory.

"Thanks for the heads up, Gabriel," he snarled as he drew his gun, quickly scoping out the terrain.

"See anything?" he heard Hunter ask as she moved to stand back to back with him. "Anybody see them?"

"There," Kiah declared, pointing off in a direction that really looked no different from the rest of the forest. "They will come from beyond the river."

"Right. We'll just have to get cover and wait for them," Sam said, quickly moving to take up a position behind a tree from which to observe the direction the jackal spirit had indicated.

He didn't see where Tek and Kiah disappeared to, but he did see Hunter take up a position underneath a large bush and he found himself occasionally trading glances with her as they waited for their enemies to make an appearance.

When the troop of angels did finally start to appear through the trees, there was an air of buzzing confusion about them.

 _They don't get that they're dealing with an archangel's power,_ Sam realized as he watched them. Even an archangel at only half power was a more than formidable force.

The two humans waited in silence, watching with baited breath as the angels moved closer and closer. Did Tek and Kiah actually plan to attack or were they just going to let them all pass by first? Would it be up to him and Hunter to close the trap? Fuck, but he wished there'd been more time to plan.

Then, just as the first angel was about to reach his tree, twin howls resounded throughout the forest and the two black jackals sprang for the middle of the troop, teeth and claws tearing at the angelic vessels.

Almost immediately, the angels broke rank, spinning wildly to see what had attacked them. Seeing his opportunity, Sam swung out and fired at the back of the first angel's head, scoring a direct hit. She shrieked in agony as her vessel went up in flames. Then, in a dying flare of holy light, the angel was dead and the charred remnants of its vessel were collapsing to the ground. Sam didn't see Hunter take her shot, but he did see the next angel go down the same way.

_It's really that easy? They go down just like that?_

The angels were panicking now, turning every which way to see where their attackers were coming from, all while Tek and Kiah kept them busy at the center. Sam and Hunter took down two more angels and when the jackals started to lose them, the pair shifted to human form, attacking with their crystalline blades. One of the angels took a hit in the chest from Tek as Hunter swung out to take down another angel.

" _Yes,_ " he heard her cheer as the heavenly bastard went up in flames, no doubt pleased to see her life's work performing so well. Sam was about to take a shot at the angel Kiah was engaged with when another one suddenly appeared beside him.

" _Winchester!_ " the angel snarled in his face as he reached forward to smite him…right before going up in flames from the bullet Hunter shot through the back of his neck. Sam looked over the smoldering remains of the angel to see the gunsmith grinning cheekily at him.

"Think you owe me a date when this is all over," she called to him. He was about to shoot something clever back at her when an angel appeared behind her.

"Hunt, _down!_ " he screamed at her. Hunter immediately threw herself to the ground as he fired off a shot at the angel, but she dodged his bullet, falling on top of the gunsmith to smite her. Sam scrambled to get in another shot.

" _Hunter!_ "

The gunsmith was faster than him, though, raising her gun to the angel's temple and firing point blank through her head. Hunter cried out in pain as the angel's burning flesh came into contact with her own. Sam was by her side in a heartbeat, shoving the burning angel away and helping her to put out the lingering flames.

"Are you all right?" he demanded urgently as he checked her over.

"'m fine," she mumbled, wincing in pain. "Still three left," she groaned.

"Two," he corrected as he fired a shot right between the eyes of the next angel coming at them. "Don't move."

"Sam!" Tek called out. He had one of the angels pinned to a tree, his crystalline blade staked through his throat. Sam wasted no time in putting a bullet through his heart. The last angel saw what was happening and immediately began to flee the scene. They couldn't let him get away.

"Bring peace to the lost lambs," Hunter said resolutely, resting a hand on his leg as he aimed his gun for the long distance shot.

"I bid thee give rest to the fangs of the wolf and call the hammer of death unto the devil," he said as he let the gospel fly. The bullet struck true, quickly incinerating their last opponent.

"That's it," Sam said, clumsily moving into a sitting position beside Hunter.

"We did it," Hunter said, an exhausted smile spreading across her face as she reached out to take Sam's hand in hers. At the first contact, Sam felt the familiar flare of lust from the mark of union shoot through his body, but as they both tightened their grip, he was able to force it back down.

"Tek! Kiah! Hunter's hurt!" he called out to them. Almost immediately, the other pair was beside them.

"Ah, just a few burns," Tek said encouragingly as he ran his pendant over them, its inner light easily healing the wounds.

"We'll have a heavy job to do when this is over," Kiah said as she looked around the forest.

"Why? What's wrong?" Hunter asked as Sam helped her sit up.

"You don't see it…because you're human," Tek said, his voice heavy with sudden sorrow. "The dogs of God are gone…but the human souls are still here. What reapers remain have been able to guide only a small handful to Heaven. There is still only one steady gateway to and from. Be thankful you cannot see it, but the world is filled with lost and screaming souls."

"So…you two can guide souls to Heaven?" Sam asked.

Kiah shook her head. "No, not anymore. We were able to…a long time ago, when people still had belief in our master's power. There are very few we can guide all the way nowadays. All we can do, all our master can do, is give comfort, shelter souls from the dark and the pain, hopefully keep them from becoming vengeful spirits until Heaven is opened once again. That is why Anubis hasn't come to see Castiel himself. This task is near constant work and it taxes him greatly."

"That is where we will guide these souls when the fighting is over. We will lead them to our master. Then we will return," Tek explained.

"Hold up," Sam started, suddenly realizing something. "Are you saying you can guide _any_ soul to Anubis? And he'll protect them?"

"Only if the soul chooses to be led. We cannot force anyone to follow. Why?" Kiah asked him.

"There was a kid, Kevin. Kevin Tran. I…Gadreel…killed him a few months back."

"The prophet?" Tek asked.

"Yes, him. He's with his mother now, but we were afraid he might go vengeful. If I can get him to follow you…do you think you'd be able to take him to Anubis?"

"Of course. If, as you said, you can get him to follow us," Kiah reiterated. "In the brief time we've been active, not many have been willing. We seem to them as demons, I suppose."

"Oh, I'll get him to follow you," Sam said, feeling a strange lightness in his chest. He had made so many mistakes these past few years. Not trying to get Dean out of Purgatory, those damn trials, Gadreel, Kevin, letting Dean use the First Blade, and now the tangled mess he'd gotten himself and Hunter into. Now maybe here was a chance to set at least one thing right. He was not going to let Kevin down again.

XxX

Lailah was the first to realize what had happened when she and her demon team were deployed inside Gabriel's illusion. She could also sense her fellow angels moving swiftly toward them through the thickly forested terrain.

"Get ready," she announced to the other three. "They will come at us from the north."

None of them had any need or desire to confer. They simply took up hidden positions and waited for the prey to arrive.

Lailah could feel their fear and uncertainty as the small band drew closer. They really had no idea what was happening. One moment they'd been marching on the bunker and the next, well…they'd had no idea where they were. The old mother had had to forcibly sever her connection to the angel radio when Dana sprang at the last angel in the group, putting his blade through his spine.

The angel mother reluctantly joined the fight then, battling angels until Akilina or Magdalene could step in and kill them. Even Dana had started slaughtering, rather than just distracting as he was meant to.

"L-Lailah?" her current opponent suddenly uttered in shock as she recognized her through the vessel. Lailah had to turn away when Akilina put her blade through the angel's head, but her attention was immediately drawn by Magdalene's cry of panic.

The demon's meatsuit was small and an agile fighter, but that was only of so much use against an angel. Her opponent had flung her down and cast away her weapon, leaving her defenseless as she hit the ground, her long red hair spreading out around her like a ring of blood already spilled.

"Mags!" Dana shouted, racing forward, even though they all knew he wouldn't be fast enough. Lailah knew this was her call, even though she hated the thought of killing an angel to save a demon's life, she also knew whose side she was on. Raising a hand, she felt her heart shatter a little as she smote the last angel, feeling his death inside herself.

"Thanks for that, angel," Magdalene said as Dana helped her to her feet.

Lailah nodded faintly, but said nothing. Like Tek and Kiah, she could see the lost and confused human souls drifting about the forest, but the thing that held her gaze…that broke her heart…was the sight of ten pairs of wings burned into the earth.

_These sheep…what have they done? Castiel, I know your child is worth this, but…but I hope you never know how it breaks my heart. I hope you never understand what it is to lose a child._

XxX

Being a little too familiar with sudden unexplained changes in location, Dorothy was not overly surprised to wind up in Gabriel's forest. Quickly drawing her gun, she surveyed the surrounding area.

"Nothing yet."

"Where are we?" Sekhmet asked as she also drew the gun she'd been given.

"It's the archangel," Charlie explained. "He's got the power to create alternate dimensions within existing ones. The angels are just as confused as you are right now. And they'll be coming from about…right…there," she declared, pointing to two particularly large trees that marked the near distance. "You two stand out here in the open and they'll come right to you. Me, I think I'll just sit right here," she said, moving toward a stand of trees and pulling herself up onto the lowest branch.

"Do you plan on doing any actual fighting?" Dorothy growled at the demon. Charlie just leered back at her.

"Oh, I think Atreus here is all the distraction you girls need. This is going to be easy. Maybe it'll give us some time to get busy when you get finished."

"If you think-"

"Dorothy!" Sekhmet shouted a warning to her. Looking to the point Charlie had given before, she could see a group of angels emerging from the trees, and the moment they spotted the humans, the heavenly warriors immediately sprang forward, running full tilt toward them. Dorothy raised her gun in order to ready her first shot.

"Wait," Atreus said quietly, holding up a hand as he stepped out in front of them.

"But they-"

"Wait," he repeated, still perfectly calm.

"Listen to him," Sekhmet advised, already prepped for her first shot. "You'll know when it's time."

None of them moved as they waited for the line of angels to descend on them. Dorothy had to resist the urge to fire as she continued to wait. It wasn't until the angels were practically on top of them that Atreus made his move. He raised both hands and uttered a single word.

"Bleed."

Immediately, the ten angels came to a halt. Slowly, slowly, lines of blood began to dribble from their eyes and noses.

"What…what is this?" one of the angels attempted to demand, though she was already beginning to choke on the vessel's blood.

Atreus didn't answer. He just created a drawing motion with one of his hands, as if motioning the angels closer.

" _Bleed!_ " he hissed, and as he spoke thin lines of blood were drawn forth from the vessels, random wounds opening up all over their bodies offered up free flowing strands of blood, all threading toward Atreus' hand so that he held all of them like ropes.

"My God," Dorothy whispered as she looked on in shock.

"Do it now!" Atreus called over his shoulder. "I can't hold them forever!"

"Right," the hunter started, shaking off her shock and leveling her gun at the frozen line. "Fer pacem agnis perditis. Dona requiem dentibus lupi et voca malleum mortis Diabolo te iubeo!"

As Dorothy spoke, she and Sekhmet each fired off five shots, clean and quick, nothing wasted, and when Atreus released the burning vessels from his control, they all dropped to the ground, every one of them dead.

Atreus' shoulders slumped and he continued to look away from them as he called out to Charlie.

"Are you satisfied, demon? Was it a good display of my power?"

"Very satisfied," Charlie said, smirking as she hopped down from the tree. "I can definitely think of all manner of…unseemly use for a power like that."

Dorothy didn't say anything to this. She had nothing. All she could really manage was to shift her gaze between the despondent-looking Atreus and Sekhmet, who just looked on her comrade with pity in her eyes.

_What the hell just happened?_

XxX

Rather than search for their enemies upon finding himself in Gabriel's little game level, Crowley's first instinct was to look to Olivia. His former minion laughed when she caught him doing it.

"Y'know, we won't get very far if you focus on me instead of the angels."

"Heh, wish I could trust you, darling, but not for nothing have I made it this far."

"Sorry, Crowley, but I think you know I only have one true loyalty. Winchester just knew how to play it. We _taught_ him how to play it. Nobody to blame but yourself, really."

"Can we settle this some other time?" Elaine interrupted. When the two demons looked in her direction, they found her standing very deliberately in front of Rachael, weapon held at the ready. The young witch also held a gun, but she was obviously uncomfortable with it. Crowley couldn't quite help sighing as he watched them.

"Well, while the current same sex ship's on the rocks, we seem to have another one to entertain ourselves with. Really, lovely Elaine, you're so like Dean, it's almost painful to watch."

"What?"

"What do you think, Olivia?"

"Mm…a month. Six weeks tops," the knight said after sizing up the two young women.

"Oh, I don't know. There's a lot more unresolved there than that. I say three months."

"You're on," Olivia said as Crowley pulled out his own gun and fired over Elaine's shoulder, sending a bullet through the oncoming angel's throat. Elaine immediately turned and shot the next angel in the heart.

"Thanks for the warning, Crowley!" the young hunter snarled, aiming for the next target.

"Welcome, love," he said before moving to the edge of the fight to observe his precious princess with her little witch. Elaine fought fiercely, taking out every angel she set her sights on. Rachael tried, but she wasn't much of a shot. She only managed to hit two angels and ended up wasting the rest of her bullets. Olivia wasn't a big part of the fight either, but he couldn't help noticing when one of the angels got the jump on her and managed to plunge his blade through her heart. When nothing happened, the young knight pulled the blade free, laughing while she plunged it into its owner's heart. Elaine had just taken down the last angel when Crowley realized something was off. That was also the moment Gabriel appeared next to him.

"Something's wrong," the archangel said, eyes sweeping the area. "There's another angel in this net."

" _NO!_ " the archangel and the two demons heard Rachael scream, turning to see Hannah holding Elaine prisoner, her angel blade poised precariously against the girl's defenseless throat.

"Hannah," Gabriel began casually. "How'd you get by me?"

"You'd be surprised what having the scribe on your side can do for you. Release your illusion, archangel. Let me leave here with the girl and I won't kill her."

"No, you won't. You won't kill her because you need her alive," Crowley pointed out, uncertain if he should pull out his own gun with Hannah present.

Hannah shook her head, fingers leaving very distinct bruises in Elaine's arm with how tight she was holding her. "That isn't so. I need her _blood._ There's no particular need for there to be life in it. Let us walk away from here and I'll let her live a while longer. If not…she dies right now."

"And you right after her," Crowley threatened.

"She'll still be dead…and that means something to you, doesn't it, demon king," Hannah said slowly as the realization lit her eyes. "What's so special about this girl?"

"Nothing," Crowley said with an overly tense shrug. "You're just getting on my nerves."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Let her go!" Rachael shouted, aiming her gun at the angel with trembling hands. Hannah stared at her a moment before shaking her head.

"If I were a crueler being, this would be the part where I laughed at you. You've not the skill to hit me instead of her, and even if you could hit me, you have no bullets left in that gun."

"Gabe, tell me you've got something," Crowley growled at the archangel under his breath.

"Nothing. Hannah beat us to the punch. Metatron must have told her how much power I do and don't have. With them standing so close, I can't smite just one of 'em. If I hit Hannah, it'd take the kid out, too."

"And you couldn't just resurrect her if you did?"

"I wouldn't risk it. So long as she's got _your_ mark on her, she's for the Pit the minute she shuffles loose the mortal coil. You _know_ that. Do you really want _Dean_ to end up with her soul?"

"No," the demon king snarled quietly, not quite ready to admit he was considering giving up his claim on Elaine Serra.

"So?" Hannah challenged. "What's it going to be, Gabriel?"

The archangel stood for several more tense moments before waving a hand, immediately breaking the illusion.

"No!" Elaine shouted. "Gabriel, you can't do this! I'm not-"

Hannah didn't allow her to say anything more. With a single touch, Elaine was unconscious in her arms. As she dragged her away, she kept her blade poised firmly against the girl's neck. She dragged her to a motorcycle parked outside the bunker, roughly tossing her unconscious weight over the front of the bike.

"I think you understand what will happen if you follow us," Hannah said before getting on the bike and roaring away.

"It can't be…Elaine…I didn't…not," Rachael whispered in a strangled voice as she dropped slowly to her knees, pounding her fists against the ground. "Dammit. Dammit! _God dammit!_ "

XxX

"So what the fuck do we do?!" Merry shouted to the war room at large as she paced across the floor. She'd already hated being the one left out of the fight and now she just hated herself even more, as if it were somehow her fault Elaine had been taken.

"Well, Hannah does need both of you, so it's guaranteed she'll contact us to make a deal for you at some point," Hunter mused.

"We can't wait that long! She might be torturing her. What if she kills her?"

"She won't do that," Sam reassured the younger twin. "She still needs you. So long as she doesn't have both of you, she's going to keep Elaine alive."

Merry rolled her eyes before smacking a palm down on the world map. "Wow, Sam, that makes me feel all better. Thanks for that. If I never see another God damn angel again, it'll be too damn soon!"

"Not that we don't agree with you on that one, but this is no time to be losing our heads," Dorothy said.

Once the fighting had ended, Charlie and Olivia had immediately taken off, presumably to report back to Dean, and Lailah and Gabriel had taken off after them to see if they could find out what had happened to Cas, along with the help of Crowley and his super secret demon squad. All that currently remained in the bunker were Sam, Hunter, Dorothy, Merry, Rachael, Atreus, and Sekhmet, as Tek and Kiah had already headed off to take care of their own duties.

"There has to be something we can do, dammit!" Merry shouted, whipping out her gun and firing off a shot into the library. Glaring sternly at her, Sam moved toward her and took the gun away from her, setting it down on the map before gently but firmly taking her by the shoulders.

"I get it, Merry. I do. I get what you're feeling right now, but you losing control isn't going to help Elaine. We've got no way of tracking her, so until Hannah gives us more information, you need to keep it together. You hear me?"

Merry pulled herself free of Sam's grip, but when she turned away from him, she took several deep breaths before nodding. "Yeah, I get it."

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine," Rachael said. "Elaine was trying to protect me. I was useless out there. I just…I didn't know what to do."

Merry shook her head. "That's not your fault, Rach. We were all first timers at some point. I don't blame you."

"Merry, can you teach me to shoot?" Rachael asked in a rush.

"Excuse me?" Merry asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I want to be able to help. I don't want a repeat of what happened out there today. _Please,_ Merry. I…I want to be able to help save her."

"Well…sure. If that's what you want, we'll all help."

"On the subject of what happened out there today…what was it I saw back there?" Dorothy asked, turning the group's focus to Atreus.

Rather than attempt to explain, Atreus pulled a blade from his belt and slit his palm open. However, instead of seeping from the wound like normal blood, Atreus' blood began to swirl and dance along his palm in tiny, controlled droplets. Then he allowed the droplets to twirl into the air, drifting in a lazy circle.

"I can control blood," he finally answered. "Not just my own, either. I can control the blood of any living thing. I can reopen old wounds and force blood from the body. I can drain a person dry."

"Well," Sam started slowly, speaking mostly to Hunter as Atreus easily resealed his wound, "I see what you mean about needing to see it to understand."

Atreus might have said more, but just then they were interrupted by the sound of Merry's phone ringing. Slipping the device from her pocket, Merry glanced at the screen to see Elaine's number flashing back at her. Reeling in shocked silence, Merry showed the others the number.

"Hannah," Sam said. "It has to be."

Nodding, Merry's face set into a steely mask as she answered the phone, setting it on speaker for the others to hear.

"Where's my sister, you bitch?" she demanded, fighting to keep her voice calm.

"She's safe, and will remain so for the time being," the angel's voice sounded over the phone. "I have what I need from her."

"So let her go."

"No. So long as I still need something from you, Elaine will stay with me."

"Let me talk to her."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. You see, I'm keeping her in something of a coma at the moment. She's trapped inside her memories…and I think you if anyone know just what lives in her memory."

"Fucking feather-assed bitch!" Merry snarled, gripping the phone in a white fist.

"You know what I want, Meredith…what I _need._ So long as you withhold yourself from me, your sister will remain trapped."

"I'll kill you, Hannah. I _swear_ I will!"

"You and everyone else in creation, Meredith. I don't expect to be forgiven for what I've done. When you're ready to make a deal, call your sister's number. I'll be waiting," Hannah said before hanging up. It was a struggle for Merry not to smash the phone against the wall.

"What do we do?" Rachael was the one to finally break the heavy silence, glancing frantically around at all of them.

"We wait," Sam declared, his tone brooking no argument. "We wait for Cas and the others to get back. Cas might actually be able to do something."

Merry didn't argue with him, but she didn't agree either. She'd wait, but she wouldn't give it more than a few days. If Cas and the other angels didn't return, she would have to strike out on her own. She couldn't leave her sister to suffer.

Not again.

XxX

_Dean is pretty sure that if he'd been beating his head against a wall like this in the waking world, he would have long since dashed his brains out. Here in the dreamscape, he just keeps at it. There's also the fact that, for a while there, he'd felt a strange sort of disconnect from the events of the nightmare…like he was there, but also not there in a way he has no hope of explaining. Whatever the case may be, he keeps at his task…keeps at it until he hears Cas' voice._

" _Dean?"_

_Looking up, he sees the angel still lying on the floor, looking up at him. His face is still streaked with tears and shadowed with misery, but there's something tender in his blue eyes…something relieved and caring._

" _Cas?" he whispers back, slowly collapsing to a sitting position, forehead pressing against the barrier; he honestly couldn't stand, even if his life depended on it._

" _Are you all right?" the angel asks him, to which Dean chuckles bitterly._

" _ **Me?**_ _Don't give me that bull shit, Cas. I get how this works. You were the one who was bein' tortured just now, so it was_ _ **your**_ _power that got us here. What happened? Did I hurt you again?" he makes himself ask._

" _Technically yes," the angel answers, glancing away from him briefly. "But I was the one who started it. I couldn't let you kill anyone unnecessarily."_

" _Shit, Cas, what's goin' on out there?"_

" _A war is beginning."_

" _For what? What's everybody fightin' over now?"_

" _For…for you and I, Dean. For what we've done…what we've created together," Cas explains as he begins to crawl toward him, collapsing back to the floor when he reaches the barrier._

" _Jesus, do those bastards really care that much about an angel and a demon gettin' it on? Why's it such a big deal?"_

" _Dean…it's more than that. I tried to tell you before," the angel says, raising a hand to the glass._

" _Tell me what?" Dean asks, raising his own hand, as if to press it against Cas' through the barrier._

" _It was so much more than just intercourse…when you and I lay together that night."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _I mean…that your demonic seed joined with the remnants of my grace. That power made me fertile. I…you…that night…you impregnated me."_

" _Cas…"_

" _I'm going to have a child, Dean…_ _ **your**_ _child."_

_Under normal circumstances, the hunter's pretty sure he'd flip his shit, but right now all he can see is the tender adoration in the angel's eyes. All he can hear in his voice is how happy he is, despite his pain and exhaustion. He wishes like crazy he could hold Cas right now._

" _You're pregnant?" is what he does finally manage to say._

" _Yes. It shouldn't have been possible, but…I believe our connection continued to bind us together, even after your transformation. It allowed the impossible to become possible. There has never been anything like her on this planet. They say she will change everything…and now creation trembles in fear of her."_

_At first, all Dean takes away from that is…"Her? We're havin' a little girl?"_

" _We are. I've been thinking about…calling her Rose," Cas says quietly, his free hand drifting down to his belly. Dean's free hand also follows his, laying it as close to his belly as he can get._

" _Rose," Dean repeats, trying it out. "Rose. Rosie. Good name."_

" _I'm glad you like it," Cas says, a relieved smile spreading across his face._

" _But…Cas…you said they're scared of her? That she's something different. She's not an angel or a demon?"_

" _No. Neither is she a nephilim or a cambion. She's something entirely new. She's so powerful, Dean. You can't even imagine."_

" _So…how do you_ _ **know**_ _she's not somethin' to be afraid of?" he asks, suddenly finding himself worried for Cas' safety. "How do you know she's not a monster?"_

" _I know," the angel says firmly. "I know that she's yours…and mine. I know I love her and I will stand against all of creation to protect her. I_ _ **know,**_ _Dean…the same way I knew this part of you still existed, even though I hadn't seen it. Will you trust me?"_

" _Yes," Dean answers without really having to think about it. Cas' certainty gives him certainty, and if Cas is willing to stand against all creation for their daughter, then that's what he'll do, too. He'll be right there at his side, standing between their baby girl and anything that might hurt her…and that's when he realizes. "Cas…can you do something for me?"_

" _What?" the angel asks._

" _If you get the chance to cure me…don't do it."_

_Cas draws back from the barrier at this, face a mix of shock and anger. "How can you ask that of me? Don't ask me to do that. I can't just leave you like this, Dean."_

" _I know. I know. I get it. I'd say the same damn thing if the situation was flipped. I wouldn't be able to leave you like this either, but I'm askin' you to do it for her…for Rose."_

" _What are you talking about?"_

" _I'm not sayin' it has to be forever…just until this fight's over. I know I've done some pretty bad shit as a demon, but…this power…I need it. I need it to protect her…and to protect you. You_ _ **gotta**_ _see that," he says, pressing a pleading hand back against the barrier. He can see how angry Cas is, how hurt he is by this…but he can also see the beginnings of understanding in his eyes. Once again, Cas draws close to the barrier._

" _Dean…how will I live? How can I leave you like this? How will I bear it…knowing I'm not doing everything in my power to free you?"_

" _The same way I'll live: knowing we'll be together at the end of it. You asked me to trust you and I do. I believe in you. I need you to believe in me now. Can you do that?"_

_Something finally shifts in Cas' eyes at this and he nods, leaning his forehead against Dean's and pressing his hands against his through the glass. Dean can see tears dripping onto the floor between them._

" _I believe in you, Dean Winchester. Don't you_ _ **dare**_ _make me regret that."_

" _I won't. I promise," he says softly, and for a moment, he thinks he can feel the warmth of Cas' hands through the barrier…but then everything shatters and he's filled with an indescribable rage._

" _ **They tried to KILL US!**_ _" he screams as he seizes Castiel in his arms._

" _What…what are you talking about?" the angel asks, trying to push away from him and failing._

" _While we were out cold in the mountains! Those fuckers in Heaven tried to put an angel blade through our girl!"_

" _How do you know that?"_

" _I don't know what happened. I was awake for a few minutes. It doesn't matter! Something happened…she protected herself. They tried to kill me, but it didn't work. Probably would have tried to kill you, too, if I hadn't raised a barrier."_

" _Then, Dean…that means that they_ _ **can't**_ _kill us. We're safe from anything they could possibly do. Isn't that a good thing?"_

" _That isn't the point. The point is that they tried. They_ _ **would've**_ _killed us!" he snarls, and if Cas had been human, he's sure he would have crushed him with the strength of his embrace by now, and that's the moment his anger shatters everything yet again._

When Cas woke from the dreamscape, he half-expected to wake alone in his small bed in the bunker, but was instead surprised to find himself still in Dean's arms. They were lying in a different bed than the one they'd gone under in, but he could sense that the bed was surrounded by holy fire and devil traps without needing to see them. There were several more layers of protection he could sense that wouldn't be visible even if one looked. When he finally did look up at Dean, he saw the demon smirking down at him.

"Rose," he drawled. "Bit lazy in the naming department, don't you think."

"No," Cas answered right away. "I like it. I want my daughter to have a human name."

"Whatever works for you. I don't care, so long as I can keep an eye on the two of you."

This caused Cas to look around, trying to see where they were. He couldn't see much of anything beyond their little sanctuary.

"Dean, where are we?" he asked, starting to feel afraid again. "This isn't Canada."

"No, it isn't. It's the only place I can keep you safe from those bastards. My word is law here, so you and our little angel will definitely be safe."

"Oh, no," Cas whispered, finally managing to pull away from his demon lover. "You don't mean…we're in Hell?"

"Welcome home, Angelface."


	13. We Can Chase the Dark Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> Take your soldiers to Lebanon, Kansas. Lay waste to the Men of Letters bunker. If we cannot take our brother down directly, we must leave him no ground to go to. Annihilate anyone you find alive...
> 
> "There was a kid, Kevin. Kevin Tran. I…Gadreel…killed him a few months back."
> 
> "The prophet?" Tek asked.
> 
> "Yes, him. He's with his mother now, but we were afraid he might go vengeful. If I can get him to follow you…do you think you'd be able to take him to Anubis?"...
> 
> "You know what I want, Meredith…what I need. So long as you withhold yourself from me, your sister will remain trapped."...
> 
> "I'm going to have a child, Dean…your child."...
> 
> "I'm not sayin' it has to be forever…just until this fight's over. I know I've done some pretty bad shit as a demon, but…this power…I need it. I need it to protect her…and to protect you. You gotta see that," he says, pressing a pleading hand back against the barrier. He can see how angry Cas is, how hurt he is by this…but he can also see the beginnings of understanding in his eyes...
> 
> "Oh, no," Cas whispered, finally managing to pull away from his demon lover. "You don't mean…we're in Hell?"
> 
> "Welcome home, Angelface."

"Dean, what have you done?" Cas demanded, backing as far away from the demon as the spells around the bed would allow.

"What I had to, Castiel. Sure as fuck wasn't gonna leave you for the feather brigade. Those bastards tried to kill you," Dean said, making no move toward him, but watching him through narrowed eyes.

"And they failed. You said it yourself. They couldn't kill me _or_ Rose. What need is there to protect us if they can't harm us?"

"They'll find a way. Those bastards always do, don't they? I wasn't gonna sit around and wait for it to happen. As soon as the fighting was done, Charlie and Olivia brought us here."

"The fighting…Dean, what happened? Are the others all right?" Cas asked urgently.

"Probably. I don't have all the details yet. I just know how we got here. If you're so anxious to find out, we can ask," Dean said, nodding somewhere beyond their little sanctuary. When Cas followed his gaze, he saw Charlie appear, standing just beyond the ring of flame. "Hey, Charlie. How'd our little war against Heaven start off?"

"Very well, if I do say so myself. We took out a whole platoon of angels and suffered no casualties," she said, looking very pleased with herself.

"See? Just like you said. They can handle themselves," Dean said. "You can go, Charlie. We'll talk more later," he said, his gaze becoming somewhat more predatory when he fixed it on Cas again. Charlie winked at her boss before taking her leave.

"Dean…you _can't keep me here,_ " Cas started slowly. "I'm not sure how long we can even _survive_ here."

"Mm, we both know that's not true," Dean said, shaking his head. "Li'l Rose is a kid of _all_ the planes of existence. She can survive anywhere, and you…well, we all remember how you stormed the gates of Hell to free me the first time."

"Yes," Cas said quietly as he looked away from Dean. "The first time I ever saw your face…"

"Aw, was it love at first sight?" Dean mocked, sitting up a little straighter on the bed.

"Yes," the angel answered in complete earnestness. "I believe it was. I just didn't understand what that meant at the time. I knew you were different from other men, but back then I just thought it was because you were the Righteous Man. I didn't realize it was my own heart that called out to you…not even when you shed blood for me."

Dean turned his head sideways at this, staring at Cas out of the corner of his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Cas looked away from him, old guilt clawing at his heart. "You wouldn't remember the first time we met…because that was how I wished it. I had no wish for anyone to know what had happened because I didn't understand it myself."

"Angelface-"

"I was the only one to survive the assault…and I may as well have been dead when I broke through. I had no strength left. They brought me to the chamber where you were being tortured…laid me at your feet. Alistair told you who I was…that I'd come to rescue you…and when he threatened to torture me, that was when you agreed to come off the rack. It was never because you were weak. I feel certain you could have endured for thousands of years. It was to save _me_ that you fell, Dean…that you spilled blood in Hell. So in truth…the Apocalypse was my doing. You fell before ever I did…and I didn't understand why you would sacrifice so much for me…or what I felt about that. I didn't want to face it, so – when I'd regained enough strength – I struck myself from your memory when I raised you. So far as you knew, the first time we met was that night in the barn."

Once he'd started, Cas found that he couldn't stop. He kept going until the whole truth had spilled out, until he'd given voice to the beginnings of his bond with Dean as he never had before. When he at last fell silent, the words finally having had their say, he felt strangely lighter – as if he'd been burdened with them all this time and speaking them aloud had freed him in some small way. He didn't know how much time had passed before he noticed Dean's hand on his shoulder, but when he finally looked up at him again, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"So, really, if you think about it, this nightclub was our first date. Dunno why you kept that from him. If you'd told him the truth, he'd've been yours in a heartbeat. Would've fallen hook, line, and sinker for a precious love story like that," the demon said, fingers slowly trailing from Cas' shoulder up his neck and along the side of his face, ultimately tangling in his dark hair and drawing his face closer to his. Castiel inhaled tremulously as the demon's heated breath ghosted across his skin, greedily leaning into the touch. The gentle moment couldn't last, though, and it wasn't long before Dean was continuing with, "So what I really don't get is why you'd wanna leave here at all. We never should've left. Maybe if we'd stayed back then…things would be a whole lot simpler now."

"Maybe they would be," Cas conceded quietly, groaning softly as Dean continued to hold his head close to his. "Maybe this love never would have been. Maybe I would have faded away and you would have become Lucifer's right hand."

"Or maybe we're soul mates. Maybe we were always meant to be together. Maybe we could've taken over back then," Dean mused right back, leaning in to press a kiss to the angel's neck.

Castiel gasped sharply, hands involuntarily reaching forward to grip Dean's shoulders. "We can never- hngh- never know what might have been…what might have happened if I'd told you the truth sooner…if I'd _realized_. All we can do is move forward with what we have, and Dean…this is _not_ moving forward. This is not life. This is a stolen moment," Cas whispered against him, pulling back briefly to look into his eyes. Dean sneered back at him, slowly shaking his head as he tightened his grip on Cas.

"It's only stolen so long as you hold yourself back from this. We don't have to pretend, Castiel. We can unite creation under one rule. Heaven will become Earth. Hell will become Heaven. I'm really just not seein' why that's a bad idea to you."

"It's a bad idea because I know how it ends. Light and dark are the fundamental natures of reality. One does not exist without the other. If they become one, they become the same and they destroy each other. What you intend…it would unmake reality," Cas explained sadly, leaning forward once more to rest his head against Dean's chest.

"Heh, maybe that's how it was when you stepped up to Godhood, but things are different this time. I saw it when we were together and I know you saw it, too. Maybe we don't have it just yet, but we could have the power to rewrite that nature, to make it what we want it. Everybody can have what they want…what they _need,_ " the demon argued, his tight grip slowly loosening to an easy hold, lovingly cradling the angel close to him.

"Nothing worth having is got with ease, Dean. _You_ taught me that."

"You think this was _easy?_ I don't get it, Angelface. Why do you want this reality so bad?"

"Because this is the reality that made us what we are," Cas said, lifting his head to kiss Dean. "This is the reality where we fell in love…where I first understood that I _could_ love you. This is the reality where our child was conceived…and where I intend for her to grow to a strong, beautiful young woman, every inch her father's daughter. She is the best of both of us, Dean. I _will not_ have our child born in Hell," he said resolutely, pulling back from his lover once more. Again, the demon sneered at him.

"Why not? Because it's evil? _Unclean?_ Dunno if you remember this, Castiel, but it's part of her, too. Our kid is part demon. You just gonna reject part of what she is?"

"Never. I will never forget what she is, but you speak as if I would prefer her to be born in Heaven. That isn't true. She'll be born on Earth. Neither Heaven nor Hell will have any part of her. I intend to treat her as a normal little girl."

"Heh, yeah, good luck with that. Even if she was anything _like_ human, she'd never be normal. I'm gonna make her a princess…just as soon as you decide you're ready to join me," Dean said, moving in close to the angel yet again and slipping a hand between his thighs, rubbing gently at the soft skin. Cas' head fell back, eyelids flickering as he gasped softly at the demon's touch.

"That will never happen," the angel moaned quietly, fighting not to reach forward and grip Dean's hips. "I promise you that right now, Dean. No matter how hard things may get- _ho…unh_ …no matter how you might tempt me… _God_ …I _will not_ give in to you. I will not take the easy way out. I swear I'll save you," he vowed, hands briefly tracing the muscles of Dean's forearms.

"Lookin' forward to makin' you eat those words, Angelface," the demon said, reaching a hand up to stroke the side of his face before running a thumb along his bottom lip, eyeing it rather pointedly. "In fact, I think we could start experimentin' right now. I know you saw what we did last time we fucked. If we could just-"

"No, Dean," Cas said firmly as he pushed himself away from the demon once again. "I won't sleep with you again – not while you're like this. I will not allow that kind of power to be set free. The next time I lie with you, you will be healed…and we will be together in love."

Dean didn't follow his retreat this time, just tracked him with his eyes, watching every move with ravenous intent. "You really think I can't take what I want, Castiel? I'm freakin' _God_ here. _You_ obey _me_ now."

"Not so. The power you covet requires my consent to be unlocked. You can, of course…force me…to have sex with you," he said slowly, wishing he could spit out the bad taste the words left in his mouth. "I don't believe you will, but you certainly have the power. You could force yourself on me, but our power, that moment of union – that must be consented to."

"Oh, I dunno. I think I could get you to _consent_ ," Dean growled softly, looking like he might attempt to pounce again, but Cas just continued to shift away from him.

"You cannot keep me here, Dean," he repeated.

"Broken record much, Castiel? Pretty sure we've already established what's gonna be happening here," the demon said with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm not being defiant. I'm merely stating a fact. You have the power to imprison me, yes, but I also have the power to break free. You can keep trying to hold me, but I will never stop trying to get away. What will ultimately end up happening is we'll be trapped in a near constant state of dreamscape imprisonment and I imagine you find that thought just as wearying as I do," Cas explained.

"You really gonna risk that?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know what happens every time we hit that state. A little more of your sweetheart's humanity gets worn away. That wall gets even thinner. You sure you wanna go down that road, Angelface?"

"I'm sure," Castiel said, gaze fierce with resolve. "My faith is with Dean Winchester. I _know_ he is strong enough to endure until the end. He will survive for his family – for Sam, for Rose…for me. I'm prepared to fight. So what's it going to be, Dean? Are you going to let me return to Earth…or are you going to fight me?"

Dean closed his eyes, giving a long-suffering sigh before finally shaking his head. When he raised a hand, Cas could feel him slowly peeling back the layers of protection that surrounded them. "I didn't wanna have to play this card with you, angel baby, but I guess you're gonna force my hand with this one. Look."

The angel did so, and on looking out into the darkened room the lowered circles of protection and imprisonment revealed, he could see a figure emerging from the burning darkness.

By human standards, the child couldn't have been anymore than five years of age. He knew who she was immediately, of course, but he still couldn't help lovingly taking in every detail his hungry eyes could pick out. The dark brown curls that cascaded down her back were those of his vessel, Jimmy. Her youthful face was round and soft and there was an innocence about her, but there was also a strange sort of _knowing_ , as well – an understanding that no normal child should have. She was clothed in a simple black gown and the tiny set of wings that unfurled from her back were just as black, each feather ruffling with excitement. More than her wings, though, she was surrounded by a darkly glowing aura, the physical manifestation of a power her little soul was barely stable enough to express. Her eyes – _oh, her_ _ **eyes**_ – they were Dean's eyes looking back at him. How could he help but tremble at the joy and love he saw reflected in those tiny emeralds?

All of this the angel took in in only a moment. When his little girl saw him, her lovely face immediately split into a wide grin.

"Papa!" she cried out as she ran to him, jumping up on the bed and into his arms. Castiel held his daughter without thought, without reservation. Confused as he was, all he felt in that moment was love.

"Rose," he whispered into her hair as he held her close. "My Rose…my beautiful Rose." He didn't understand. He could still feel her with him, within him, and she had still somehow manifested like this?

"She isn't a complete soul yet," Dean explained in answer to his confusion as he glanced at him over the top of Rose's head. "She still depends on you for her existence. Really, all she's got is that love for you and me, but this is how she manifests down here. Kept her safe in another part of the ring 'cuz I thought we'd be gettin' up to stuff she shouldn't see Mommy and Daddy doin'."

"Dean-"

"So whatcha think, Angelface? Down here you can _really_ watch her grow. You get to watch every little aspect of her soul flourish and fill out. We'll be together, just the three of us, like a family – exactly the way you want. Tell me that doesn't sound good."

Castiel would be lying if he said it didn't. As Rose's tiny hands clung to the back of his neck and he breathed in the scent of her hair, he could just picture the three of them together – taking care of Rose, watching her grow, Dean loving him, lying in his arms every night, never having to fear Heaven or Hell ever again – exactly as he'd always dreamed.

_Everything you could possibly wish for…to be had upon payment of everything you ever believed in._

"So what's it gonna be, Castiel?" Dean flung back at him, repeating his words from earlier.

"I…I…"

XxX

" _So how'd your last algebra test go?" Merry asked as she and Elaine strolled down the sidewalk, heading home after another long day of school._

" _I'm feeling pretty good about it. Not sure if I'll swing that last A, but I'll take the B after that hell," Elaine said, taking her sister's backpack from her so she'd be free to skip around in circles like she always did._

" _Yeah, as if the mighty Elaine could get anything but an A. Whatever," her twin said with a toss of her head. "The rest of us mortals had to sit through regular eighth grade math, but you've at least taken a bite out of high school."_

" _Just a few more months and you will, too. After tomorrow, we're officially done with middle school!" Elaine crowed, her excitement almost matching Merry's normal level of enthusiasm._

" _Then fourteen years old on Friday!" Merry cheered, continuing to skip in circles around Elaine._

" _By the way, did you hear back from Kayla yet? We've already got eight girls coming to the party. Mom needs to know if she's in or not."_

" _No. We didn't get a chance to talk. Her mom picked her up today."_

" _Guess we'll just have…have to…" Elaine's voice slowly trailed off into nothing as her attention was called elsewhere._

" _Elaine? Hey! Elaine!" her sister continued to call to her, but she didn't hear it. Her attention was drawn unerringly down to the small stream that flowed alongside the sidewalk. The water trickled merrily along at the bottom of a small ravine, had done so every day of her life, but today – for reasons she had no hope of explaining – the stream seemed to call out to her, beckoning to her in a way that was near irresistible. She'd had moments like this before, moments of being distracted, called away by something unexplainable, but this was different. Today the voice calling out to her was almost…hypnotic. Elaine barely even noticed when she let the backpacks drop to the sidewalk. Almost before she was aware of it, she was moving down the hill and into the ravine._

_**Come away to the water, little one. I promise this will be a birthday unlike any you've had before. Come to me, lovely Elaine.** _

" _Elaine! What the hell do you think you're doing!"_

_Elaine could hear Merry's voice, but she didn't comprehend it. All she was really aware of was the feel of the cool water on her sandaled feet as she stumbled into the stream, feeling it crawl up her legs as she moved even deeper in._

_**Yes, love. That's right. You belong to me now.** _

**Elaine…this isn't right…this isn't** _**real.** _

" _Laney, please! You're scaring me. This isn't funny anymore. Come back."_

_Still nothing registered in her mind. All she could comprehend were the strands and drops of water that were climbing up her body, slowly dancing across her skin. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She was waist-deep in the water now._

_**Come to me, dear heart, and I promise I'll make you a princess. You're going to be a very special young lady.** _

" _ELAINE!" her sister screamed in horror, but she still didn't comprehend. She still didn't…even when the tendrils of water snaked up and pulled her completely under._

_The water pulled her down into darkness and silence, and into the waiting embrace of the gentle and seductive voice._

_**Just a little longer, dearest. Then it will all go away.** _

**You're not a child anymore, Elaine.**

_She wasn't aware of anything anymore – not where she was, not that she was slowly drowning. All she knew was the whispered promise of her strangely gentle captor._

" _HELP! PLEASE, SOMEONE! HELP!" her sister's voice suddenly broke through to her, calling from somewhere far away._

" _Merry?" she mumbled dully, and only then did she realize her mouth was filled with water. She was breathing it into her lungs. In just a few short minutes she was going to drown!_

_That was when she began to fight back, struggling in earnest but in vain against the water's hold on her…against the voice's enchantment over her, but it was just too little too late. She could feel it as the world began to darken at the edges of her vision. She was going to die like this, with life only a few inches above her head._

_That was the moment a body suddenly hit the water near her, fighting to get to her, to reclaim her from the stream's deadly embrace. She knew she couldn't keep it up much longer._

" _Hang on, kid. Just hang on!" an unfamiliar voice shouted in her ear, encouraging her, keeping her from letting go. Strong arms wrapped around her body, struggling with her against the inescapable pull of the water._

 **You** _**know** _ **something's wrong here, Elaine. Wake up, dammit!**

_She had no idea what finally did it, but the stranger somehow managed to pull her up out of the water. Even she knew it might have already been too late, though. She could feel the water in her lungs, could feel the burn of the lack of air in her body, feel her limbs stiffening even as the stranger laid her down on the bank._

" _Elaine! Oh, God, Elaine!" she could hear Merry sobbing._

" _Is she gonna be all right, Dean?" another strange voice called down to them._

" _Everybody shut up. Just shut up for five freakin' minutes!" her rescuer demanded as he laid an ear to her chest, no doubt feeling the unnerving stillness there. "Dammit."_

 _**It's too late. Just let her go,** _ _the traces of the haunting voice still in her mind whispered._

" _Come on, kid. Don't quit on me," her rescuer hissed so only she could hear it. She felt the sharp snap of pain when he began chest compressions on her. Everything was dark all around her. She couldn't see anything._

" _Laney…Laney,_ _ **please,**_ _" she could hear Merry sobbing, but she couldn't call out to her._

" _Sammy, keep her back!" the first man snapped before his mouth closed over hers, breathing for her, fighting to displace the water in her lungs. When he began the next round of chest compressions, he continued to speak just to her as he worked feverishly to save her life. "Don't you die on me, kid. Don't you_ _ **dare!**_ _Come on. Breathe._ _ **Breathe,**_ _dammit!"_

_At the last compression, something was finally dislodged. Elaine began to cough and her rescuer turned her onto her side, allowing her to expel the deadly build-up of water in a violent torrent. Despite how painful it was, she continued to cough, throwing up everything she possibly could._

" _That's it. Let it all out," the man encouraged her as he pounded her back, helping her clear everything away. When she was finally able to look up again, she was met with a freckled face and a pair of green eyes. The man cracked a roguish grin when he saw her looking up at him._

" _You…you saved me," she mumbled._

" _Kinda what I do, kiddo. Name's Dean."_

" _Elaine," she answered faintly, still just lying on the bank staring up at him. "Elaine Serra."_

" _Nice to know you, Elaine. So you wanna tell me what you were doin' drownin' in four feet of water?" he asked as he helped her sit up._

" _I…I didn't…I don't know what happened," she tried to explain. "I can't remember…it was like something was…calling out to me."_

" _Calling? How do you mean?" Dean pressed._

" _I don't know, it – you'll think I'm a stupid little girl telling stories," she muttered angrily, trying to look away from him._

" _Then let's tell stories," the man returned, holding her gaze with a serious one of his own. "Come on, Elaine, humor me."_

" _Well…I heard a voice, and it was so inviting. It was calling me to it…like it_ _ **wanted**_ _me to die," she tried again to explain. "I know it sounds stupid, but I_ _ **swear**_ _it was calling me."_

_Before Dean could say anything more, Elaine found herself tackled back to the ground by her sobbing younger twin. Merry buried her face in her chest as she hugged her._

" _Oh, Laney! Laney! Why the hell would you do that, huh? What were you thinking?!"_

" _Whoa, hey, hey, hey," the other man, Sammy, started as he approached them, easily pulling Merry off her. "Your sister's had a hard time. Give her a minute."_

" _Right, right, sorry," Merry said, shaking her head several times. "I'm sorry. I panicked. Sam and Dean were about to head out to the highway. They heard me shouting. If they hadn't come by, you…you'd probably be dead."_

_Elaine stared at her sister in confusion several moments before she realized what she was seeing. "Merry…why are you all wet?"_

" _I tried to pull you out myself, but I…I couldn't do it. It was like – I don't know – like something was holding you down."_

" _Something…what kind of something?" Sam asked. Elaine couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw him shoot Dean a look._

" _I really have no idea. It was almost like…well…like the_ _ **water**_ _was holding her down. No matter what I did, I couldn't get her head above the water. At one point I could have sworn…"_

" _Sworn what?" Dean asked._

" _That it threw me back. That was when I climbed back up and started screaming."_

" _Well, shoot, if that don't strain the mind," Dean said with a long whistle. "We should probably get you back to your parents. Where do you live? We can walk with you."_

" _Only another ten minutes from here," Elaine answered. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it occurred to her it might not be a good idea to trust these strangers, but she found that she already did. After all, they'd saved her life. Would they have done that if they meant them harm?_

" _All right. You okay to walk?" Dean asked her as he slipped his jacket around her shoulders. She was practically swimming in it, but it did help to allay the shivering._

" _I'm fine," she answered. Dean offered her another smile as he helped her to her feet._

" _We'll get you home," he promised._

_Elaine didn't remember much of the walk home, but there was a moment she thought she heard Sam asking Merry about any other weird happenings around town._

" _We'll probably stick around a few more days. Give us a call if anything else happens. We'll help you," he told them._

_Elaine didn't really start thinking again until she heard her mother's worried cry. Mom pushed Dean's jacket from her shoulders as she pulled her into her arms._

" _Oh, Elaine, my baby. I can't believe it. We- we need to get you dried off," Rae Serra said, holding her daughter a little on the uncomfortable side of tightly. "Thank you. Thank you for saving her. I can never thank you enough."_

" _Not a problem, Ma'am. We just did what anyone would have done," Dean said as he picked up his jacket. "I feel like I should ask, though. Has anything like this ever happened to your daughter before? Anything…out of the ordinary?"_

_Elaine probably wouldn't have thought anything of her mom's response had Rae not been holding her in her arms. As it was, though, she felt her mother stiffen upon hearing Dean's words. When she looked up at the woman who'd raised her, she saw something like fear in her eyes._

" _Mom?"_

" _No, of course not. Why would you ask that?"_

" _Just a question. Sometimes things happen," Dean said, though he was looking at Rae Serra like he knew she wasn't saying everything._

" _No. Please…please leave. I'm grateful for what you've done, but I don't want you bothering my daughters anymore."_

" _We can help you," Sam told her as she herded him and his brother to the door._

" _No, I don't think so. Leave us alone."_

" _Elaine, don't-" Dean tried to call out to her, but her mother cut him off by slamming the door in his face._

" _Mom?" Merry's voice sounded in the suddenly silent room. Elaine looked back to see her standing in the hallway with an armful of towels. "What's going on?"_

" _Nothing, nothing at all. Those two were just crazy. Merry, get your sister dried off. I'll make some hot chocolate. Dad'll be home soon. I think we should go out for dinner tonight," she said absently as she made her way into the kitchen._

_Once she was gone, Elaine shared a look with her sister. As so often happened with the two of them, they didn't need to say anything. They each knew what the other was thinking. Their mother was keeping something from them, and whatever that something was, it had to do with Elaine's life. For perhaps the first time in their lives, Elaine and Meredith did not trust their mother._

XxX

"No," Cas said firmly after only a moment's hesitation. Scooping Rose into his arms, he stood from the bed, quickly backing away from Dean. "I won't let you use her for this. I'm taking her out of here. Don't try to stop us."

A look of surprise briefly crossed the demon's face as he watched him retreat, but then he shook his head, smirking at the angel. "Really? You really wanna go back to all that pain? All that stupid, meaningless fighting? You don't think Rosie'd be safer here?"

"Maybe she would be, but that's not the point. Just because it's painful…doesn't mean we don't have to fight."

"Papa, what's wrong?" Rose asked, looking up at him with her wide green eyes. "Did the world hurt you? Do you want me to make it go away?"

At this, Castiel felt a bolt of fear strike his being, because he didn't doubt that his little girl really _could_ make the world go away if she put her mind to it. Setting Rose on her feet, he knelt in front of her and gently took her by her shoulders, gazing intently into her eyes.

"No, you mustn't do that, dear heart. That isn't what I want."

"But…but I think I _could_ do it…if that's what you wish for," she said, large eyes filling with tears as her lower lip started to tremble.

"I know. I know. You could do anything you wanted. You're such an amazing child – the most beautiful in all creation – but just because you _can_ do something doesn't mean you should," he explained, being careful to keep himself calm. If he frightened her…

"Why not?" she demanded, eyebrows briefly knitting together in sorrow and confusion. "If the world hurt you…if it made you sad…why _shouldn't_ I make it stop? I don't like it when you're sad, Papa."

Castiel gave a small bark of bitter laughter as he pulled his daughter into a hug. Had living in this reality been a painful experience? Of course it had. He had known agony and anguish the likes of which he never could have imagined existed. Had he sometimes wished for everything to just stop? Yes, he had. But without that pain, he would never have known joy either. His experiences fighting back against Heaven's yoke, his time on Earth, his love for Dean, and for her…it had all been earned through suffering. Rose was infinitely powerful, infinitely wise, but still just a child. How did he have any hope of explaining it to her?

"I understand, Rose, but it's more complicated than that. The balance exists as it does for a reason. True happiness – true love and joy – those things cannot be experienced without sorrow and heartbreak. I _need_ my pain, little one. We _all_ do."

"But why? If I can make the bad stop, shouldn't I?"

"It's a lovely thought, but that isn't what erasing pain would do. Without sorrow, there is no joy. Happiness would have no meaning. The love I have for you and your father, that he has for the two of us, the love that you feel for he and I…that love is nothing without the risk that it might be lost. I know it's difficult to understand, but do you think you can trust me?" he asked, smiling at her as he took both her small hands in his much larger ones. Slowly, a similar smile moved across her face and she nodded.

"Uh-huh. I think so."

"That's my good girl," Cas said, pressing a kiss to her forehead before lifting her into his arms again. "We'll go home together."

"What about Daddy?" she asked, twisting in Cas' arms to look back at Dean. When Cas' gaze followed hers, he saw the new king of Hell looking at them with a rather strange mix of emotions on his face. His mouth was twisted in a sneer and his eyebrows were knit together as if in anger, but in his eyes, Cas could almost swear he could see heartbreak.

"I don't think Daddy's ready to come home yet, but when the time is right, he'll come back to us. I _know_ he will," the angel said firmly, gazing directly into the demon's eyes. Whatever conflict there'd been in Dean's face quickly shifted to full on mockery. He slowly shook his head as he began to laugh quietly.

"A god with the mind of a three-year-old. On a scale from one to Lucifer, how fucked are we?" he wondered as he approached them. Then he also leaned down and pressed a kiss to Rose's forehead. "Don't worry, baby girl. Our family's gonna be together before you know it."

"Promise?" she asked, shyly reaching out to touch the Mark on his arm. Cas couldn't help noticing the way the demon winced at the touch.

"Promise," he said, grinning at her before looking to Cas over the top of her head. "I'll let you leave, Angelface, but don't think it's gonna be that easy to get back to the land of the living. You're gonna have to go through Purgatory to get back, and the place is probably a little different from when we played house there."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you I was takin' over, Angel cakes. I've already gotten started. Hell is mine, and I've been breakin' down the walls between here and Purgatory."

"Oh, God," Cas whispered in horror, taking a step back from the former hunter. It seemed that every time he thought Dean Winchester could no longer shock him, he went and did something worse.

"That's right. For a shot at gettin' back to Earth, all those monsters are happy to work for the new king. Even the leviathans obey me now, Castiel. Nobody's gonna hurt you when you pass through, but if you wanna get back, you'll have to find your way yourself, and it's not gonna be easy."

"Dean, why would you do this?"

"Because it gives us both what we want. You get to go back to Sammy and the others – eventually, and I get to keep you off Heaven's radar. Best of all, we don't have to fight about it. Breakin' down these walls takes a lot of power, after all. We've both got better things to do with our time than sleep. So, ready to go, Angelface? Journey of a thousand miles and all that shit," Dean said before snapping his fingers. Cas immediately found himself in the forests of Purgatory, alone except for Rose. It appeared to be twilight, but the fading light had a strange, almost red cast to it.

"Dammit, Dean," the angel snarled quietly as he looked around, clutching Rose a little more tightly against his chest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he noted that her manifestation had shifted. Her wings were no longer readily visible in this plane, though he could feel them flapping anxiously in the plane where they existed.

"Papa…where are we?" Rose whispered, her tiny hands clinging to him even more tightly in fear.

"A place between," was all the answer he had to give her. He knew she could sense the wrongness of this place just as easily as he could. With the way Dean and his followers had cannibalized the boundaries between the two regions, it was one of the most off-putting sensations he'd ever experienced in his existence. An amalgamated place such as this had never before existed.

"I'm scared," she whispered, burying her face in his neck. "I don't wanna be here."

"I know," he whispered back, gently rocking her as he stroked her back to soothe her. "I know it's frightening, but you need to be brave for me. We cannot use your power to get out of here," he said. If he was going to teach her that she couldn't always take the easy way out, he would have to start now, before she was even properly born.

"Why can't we?" she demanded, struggling not to cry.

"It's too dangerous. This realm is unstable as it is. Your father's already using your power to break it down. You wouldn't want to see it become worse, would you?"

"No, but…"

"Rose, I swear I won't let anything happen to you. I'll get you out of here safely and I'll take you home. You said that you trusted me. Was that a lie?" he asked as he began to walk, moving in the direction the cannibalization seemed less prevalent.

Slowly, Rose shook her head, keeping it resting against his shoulder. "No. No, Papa. I trust you."

"Good. You don't have to worry about a thing. I'll get us both out of here."

"I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you, too," he returned, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. He knew she could sense his fear, but he could also feel her faith in him. That would have to be enough to see them through this nightmare.

XxX

If he were completely honest with himself, Kevin Tran would have to admit that he sometimes forgot he was dead.

Granted, his stints trapped in the Veil were hellish experiences that no decent being should have to endure, but…were they really any different from the nightmare he'd been living since awakening as a prophet? When he was awake and with his mom, it almost seemed like the old days, or like it had been when he'd dreamed about his old life. He and Mom would be watching a movie or just sitting and talking and he would slip back into the old feeling…the way it felt to be human and inhabit a physical body. He wouldn't even think anything of it when Mom needed to eat, which he was afraid she was doing less and less _because_ he couldn't, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Outside of that, the small moments were so wonderful…so human.

But then he would forget just what kind of strength he had as a spirit. He would forget just how much pain and anger the Veil had infused him with…and a simple touch would become near fatal. He was being forced to remember that now as he looked at his mother, who stared back at him with a mix of pain, fear, and love in her eyes as she cradled her broken arm against her chest.

"Oh, God…Mom…I'm so sorry," he whispered, involuntarily reaching a hand toward her before reminding himself that it was his touch that had caused this.

His mom shook her head, blinking back what were clearly tears. "It's not your fault, sweetheart. I forget sometimes, too."

"But…it's getting worse, isn't it. This can't keep happening. I'll end up _killing_ you."

Again, Linda Tran shook her head, moving to sit down in her armchair at the far end of the living room. "I don't believe that."

"Mom-"

Whatever he'd been about to say was suddenly cut off when the doorbell rang. Both of their gazes snapped to the front door. They didn't see anyone from the old days, so who could possibly be at the door in the middle of the night?

"Kevin, stay out of sight," his mom warned as she got back to her feet, moving slowly toward the door.

"Mom-"

"It's all right," she said as she passed him, waving him back. "If anything attacks me, I'm pretty sure you can handle it."

Kevin would've argued, except for the fact he knew she was right, so he fell back into the shadows of the entry hall, watching as his mom opened the door.

The first thing he saw beneath the porch light was Sam Winchester's familiar gargantuan form. He noted there were others with him, but he couldn't see them just yet.

"Sam?" Linda whispered.

"Hey, Linda. How are you guys doing?"

"As well as can be expected. What are you doing here?"

"I brought some new friends of mine. I think they might be able to help Kevin."

"What do you mean help?"

"Sam, what are those things?" Kevin demanded as he moved out of the shadows, finally seeing just what was standing with the hunter.

One of them was a human woman, but the other two…they looked human, but had eerie, almost wolf-like features.

"Don't be afraid, Kevin Tran," the man said, voice gentle despite his monstrous appearance. "To humans we appear as either human or jackal, but you have died. You can see our true forms. We are neither human nor spirit. Like yourself, we are…caught somewhere in the middle."

"This is Tek and this is Kiah," Sam introduced. "They're…well…servants of Anubis."

"Much as I would love to disbelieve that statement, that's a little impossible after everything that's happened."

"Kevin, they can help you," the human woman started, moving to stand closer to Sam.

"Who are you?" his mom asked.

"This is Hunter Silver. She's…" Sam's voice broke off at this, as if he wasn't quite sure how to describe her.

"In case the name didn't give it away, I'm in the life," Hunter said. "I'm a weapons specialist."

"What did you mean by that? That these two can help Kevin?" Linda pressed.

"Ever since the Fall, Anubis has been guarding lost souls. If you allow us to lead you to him, he will be able to protect you, keep you from deteriorating further. I know you don't need me to tell you this, but the others cannot see it. You have already deteriorated a great deal. It will not take much for you to become vengeful, and from there, there's no coming back," Kiah explained gently.

"Oh, God," Linda whispered in horror.

"Thanks for that. She didn't know how close to gone I was," Kevin said with a sigh, looking past Kiah toward Sam. "How do you know we can trust these guys?"

"A demonstration perhaps?" Tek suggested, moving toward his mom. "A show of good faith. That looks bad. May I see your arm?"

On instinct, Linda took a step back from the jackal spirit, giving a short shake of her head.

"Linda, it's okay. These guys can heal any non-lethal wound," Sam explained.

Gaze darting between Sam and Tek, Linda hesitated for several moments before finally moving back toward the jackal spirit, offering him her broken arm.

"Sam, if this thing hurts my mom-" Kevin started.

"It's gonna be fine, Kevin."

Taking the offered arm in hand, Tek drew out the ankh pendant he was wearing and pressed the crystal tip to the skin. The crystal glowed briefly before Linda pulled her arm away, flexing her fingers in amazement.

"It's…completely healed. No pain at all."

"You're sure you're all right?" Kevin asked, still worried and guilt-ridden.

"It's fine, Kevin. I think…we should let them try to help. This may be your only chance to save yourself."

Kevin debated with himself several minutes. Here he was, just about resigned to the fact that he _was_ going vengeful – he'd actually been considering finding a way to contact the Winchesters to burn the ring – and then of course, what do they do but show up with another wild hope.

"You know what, all right. Let's do this thing. What the hell have I got to lose?"

"All right," Kiah began as she moved forward, holding her hand out to him. "If that is your decision, Kevin Tran, take my hand. I will guide you to the sight of He Who Protects."

For a moment, the former prophet stared at the offered hand with no small amount of concern. Could he touch Kiah without hurting her? Well, if she feared that at all, there was no sign of it in her face. There was only calm encouragement as she waited patiently for him to decide. Shuddering one last time, Kevin thrust his hand into hers.

Immediately, he felt a sense of relief. When he saw that Kiah could hold his hand without hurting herself, he felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. After all, the jackal spirit was his first real contact since his death, and he felt certain that if he'd still been human, he would have cried. As it was, the others could all see the reflection of tears in his eyes as Kiah led him out the front door.

XxX

Lailah had kept herself busy in the days following the battle for the bunker. She and Gabriel had arrived at the cabin in the Rockies only in time to see Charlie and Olivia depart for Hell with Dean and Cas. Being fugitives from the new regime, Crowley and his demon commandos hadn't been able to just pop down to Hell, but they _had_ been able to lead them to Purgatory's backdoor.

" _It's pretty ugly in there," Gabriel reported as he extended a tendril of grace through the gateway, shuddering several times before pulling it back to himself._

" _It would be," Dana explained to them. "Dean Winchester has been using his powers to tear down the walls between Hell and Purgatory. He's got thousands more souls serving him than any previous ruler. Anyone who resists the new order is destroyed."_

" _Well, guess there's nothing to do but go in after them," the archangel said as he rolled up his sleeves._

" _Gabriel, you should let me do it. I at least have my wings," Lailah tried to intervene._

" _Much as I'd love to take you up on that, Mom, I'm still an archangel. Even at half-life, I'm stronger than you guys put together. I'll go after him. You've gotta get back and let the others know what's going on."_

Not being of a trusting nature, Crowley had sent one of his own demons along with Gabriel, Magdalene, on account of Dean not being familiar with her. Crowley had said he'd be in touch, but she hadn't heard anything from him in the two weeks since the battle. She herself had flown straight back to the bunker to inform the others of the situation. She'd been on the task of attempting to locate Hannah and Elaine, but the younger angel had covered her tracks far too well.

Sam and Hunter had had to wait all that time for Tek and Kiah to return from their errand. Dorothy had decided to pursue a case in Utah and Sekhmet and Atreus had gone as her backup. The only ones currently with the angel in the bunker were Rachael and Merry.

With every day that went by, Merry was going more and more stir crazy. She and Rachael were under something of an unofficial house arrest and they'd been abiding by it, but neither was happy with the situation. Every day Gabriel and Castiel did not return was a day they came closer to breaking their agreement. Such a thought was in Lailah's head when Rachael came to her that day, but unfortunately her focus was too much on the hunt for Hannah to realize just what the pair had become capable of doing.

"Lailah?" Rachael called out into the war room as she entered from the library. "Merry thinks she might have found a lead in South Carolina. Could you come have a look at it?"

"Of course," the angel answered, following the young woman back into the library. Merry's laptop sat open on the table, but she herself was nowhere to be seen.

"There're reports of unexplained power surges from the area," the younger Serra's voice called from the kitchen as Lailah sat down to have a look at what she'd found. When Merry came back into the library, she was holding a protein bar. "Maybe something worth checking out?"

"It's very interesting, Merry, but I don't think-" Lailah's voice immediately died in her throat when she heard the flick of a lighter. As she looked up at the young hunter, a ring of holy burst into flame around the table, throwing the dangerous expression on her face into sharp relief.

"I'm sorry, Lailah, but we can't wait anymore. This is the only way."

"Merry, please…don't do this," Lailah pleaded with her, now powerless within the ring. "This is exactly what Hannah wants. You'll be walking right into her hands."

" _I don't care!_ " Merry hissed sharply as she turned away from the angel. "You all keep saying that Hannah won't hurt her, but it's not true. She's in pain. Every night in my sleep…I can hear her _screaming._ I can't take it anymore. If none of you will do anything, then I guess I'm the one that has to," she said before moving to join Rachael at the stairs.

"Merry, no! You _can't_ give yourself up to Hannah. Please…we have time. We can figure this out," she begged, getting as close to the line of fire as she could without touching it.

"Too late, angel," Merry whispered, not looking back at her, her voice hoarse with unshed tears.

"Rachael…please," Lailah appealed to the young witch, who gazed back at her with a hint of regret in her eyes, but the resolve in her expression was just as strong. When Merry didn't move, Rachael slipped out her own phone and punched in Elaine's number.

"Hannah? We're ready to deal. Tell us where you're keeping Elaine."

XxX

_Elaine was in the bathroom undoing her braids, listening to Merry chatter on about the graduation ceremony when it happened again._

_The mirror cracked without warning, splintering her reflection into a hundred different pieces. Each piece slowly began to vibrate, creating an eerie, almost songlike sound._

" _M…Mer…" she tried to call out unsuccessfully, feeling the same strange enchantment as before settle over her mind. Again, that haunting voice called out to her._

_**No, no, no, love. Can't have your sister interfering again. It's just you and me here now. This time we'll do it right.** _

" _No…no…" she whispered over and over again, aware of what was happening this time, but still unable to pull herself free of whatever it was that had hold of her._

 **Dammit, Elaine, wake up! You've** _**got** _ **to wake up!**

 _**You belong to** _ _**me** _ _**, lovely Elaine. You can't get away. I** _ _**am** _ _**going to have what's due me.** _

" _No…please…" she whispered, backing up against the wall, unable to pull herself any further away._

_**Just close your eyes. It will all be over before you know it.** _

_Then, as Elaine stood there, trapped, with tears streaming down her face, the voice actually began to sing. It was a song that sounded like an old lullaby, in a language she'd never heard before, but it was still somehow soothing…almost as if someone had reached out a gentle hand to wipe the tears from her face._

_**'S i ag ùrnaigh ris an Àrd-Rìgh** _

_**"Dìon mo ghràdh 'th' air àird a' chuain"** _

_**Bha a cridh' le gaol gu sgàineadh** _

_**Nuair a ghlac mi fhèin air làimh i** _

_**"Siab do dheòir, do ghaol tha sàbhailt** _

_**Thill mi slàn bhàrr àird a' chuain"** _

" _ELAINE!"_

_The sound of her sister's scream immediately broke the spell. Just as the shards of glass flew at her, ready to tear through her body and end her life, Merry threw herself at her, sending them both crashing to the ground, just barely avoiding being impaled by hundreds of tiny shards. Instead they rained harmlessly down on them after shattering even further against the wall._

**Elaine, please. You can't let her use you for this. If you don't wake up, something terrible will happen.**

_All Elaine could manage to do was lay there in shock. The first thing to really pierce her awareness was her sister's frantic voice._

" _Sam! Sam, it's me, Merry Serra. Yes, it happened again. I don't know what's going on, but something's trying to kill my sister. Please, help us. Help us!"_

XxX

Circe was sitting alone in her kitchen with a cup of tea when the former king of Hell appeared to her out of the darkness.

"Alone tonight, are we, Elsie?" Crowley asked her as he took a seat at the large table, pulling out his flask to have a drink with the old witch.

"Yes. Of course you know where Rachael, Atreus, and Sekhmet are. Will and Alma took the little ones to a movie. Weaver is attending another circle's casting and Kestrel is on a date with his new boyfriend," she answered, raising an eyebrow at him over the rim of her cup.

"Ah, going well, is that?" he asked, keeping her gaze as they both drank.

"Very well. Kestrel adores Lastelle. I don't know that I've ever seen him this happy. I surely hope Lastelle's intentions are…honorable," she said.

"One can only hope," the former king returned with a small sneer. "Though I do have to wonder what _you_ know about honorable behavior. Does your precious little flock know what you are underneath that saintly old matron? Do they know how many people you've killed? Do your sheep know about Elspeth De Súile Dorcha, queen of witches, daughter of the midnight gate?"

"What need is there to tell them of a woman who is no longer alive? Elspeth De Súile Dorcha has passed into legend. Elsie died, the story goes…when she laid her child in the earth," Circe answered, her green eyes misting over as they lost focus on the person she was actually talking to, fixing instead on a distant time and place – a time when there'd been love and happiness and the world had seemed to stretch on forever at her feet. Gods, but she'd been so naïve then.

"And yet here she sits, just like the rest of us. Jesus Christ, but I'd've killed you then if I'd known you wouldn't have tried to stop me."

Circe shook her head, eyes slowly drawing back to the present. "No, I wouldn't have. I could never harm you, Fergus. Whatever else you may have done, Nessa loved you once."

"Don't say that name!" Crowley snarled at her, jumping back from the table as if burned. "I don't want to hear that name ever again!"

"Well, if you want to forget about her, you've certainly done a good job of that. You spat on her memory when you made that deal with Malik. There was a time you would have given your life for a smile from Nessa. We _all_ loved her. We were raised together. We played in the glens _together._ We fought side by side. Do ye remember none of that?" Circe demanded, centuries of old grief and regret welling up in her eyes as she shot up from the table. With every syllable spoken in anger, her voice dropped more and more into the old Scottish brogue she'd originally spoken with.

"I remember a witch," the demon hissed, his own original accent beginning to seep through as he slowly moved around the table toward her. "I remember a woman who had all the power in the world, that when we needed her most…turned her back on us and let her sister _die._ "

"I told ye before, I couldn'a get there in time. I would've given _aught_ to save her life. I couldn'a-"

"Don't ye _dare_ try to justify yerself!" Crowley snarled, reaching forward to seize her by the throat, accent now just as thick as hers. "Gael…Vianne…at least ye lost them to yer enemies. Nessa…" he faltered on the name, as if it physically pained him to speak it, "she died because _ye_ couldn'a save her. I can still see the _guilt_ in yer heart. 'Tis _yer fault!_ "

Circe didn't try to resist the chokehold the former king had on her. As she looked at him, the anguish in her eyes soon shifted to pity. "Aye, I do carry her with me…nay different from the way ye carry Gavin with ye."

Crowley released the old witch at this, backing away from her with a shuddering breath. When he turned away from her, Circe began to sing quietly – an old Gàidhlig lullaby.

_**'** S i ag ùrnaigh ris an Àrd-Rìgh _

_"Dìon mo ghràdh 'th' air àird a' chuain"_

_Bha a cridh' le gaol gu sgàineadh_

_Nuair a ghlac mi fhèin air làimh i_

_"Siab do dheòir, do ghaol tha sàbhailt_

_Thill mi slàn bhàrr àird a' chuain"_

The demon chuckled bitterly at the sound of the familiar song. "D'ye expect to get sentiment out of me, Elsie. I dinna-" the former king stopped short, realizing what he'd been doing. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat, almost as if he were spitting the old voice out. "Don't think you can play games with me like that."

"I'm not trying to play games," she said, reining in her own accent. "Is that why you're so fixated on the Serras? You failed as a father before and you've got another chance with them?"

"As if I ever _wanted_ to be a father," he snapped at her, but then his rattled expression shifted into a knowing sneer. "Besides, if I really _did_ want another shot at it, I've got my own boy right here in this century."

A disquiet look crossed Circe's face at this. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, back when Abaddon was still running around, she thought it might be a good idea to get some leverage on me. Unfortunately for her, she didn't look any further back than my son, otherwise we all would've been in _real_ trouble. Point being that she brought Gavin forward in time…and I didn't let the Winchesters send him back to die."

"Gavin…Gavin's here?"

"Somewhere. I believe he's working in a bar up in Connecticut. I do check in every now and then to be sure he hasn't gotten himself killed."

"Wait…you left him _alone_ in the twenty-first century?" Circe demanded furiously. "My sister's boy?!"

"Like I said, he hasn't got himself killed yet."

"Well, that's just- it's unacceptable! I won't stand for this," she said, moving out of the kitchen and into the entry hall to get her cloak.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"To get my nephew. I'm going to bring him back here to be with his family."

"Elsie, I swear, if you so much as _look_ at him-"

"Fergus, if you'd only listened to me back then, there wouldn't be any need of promises right now. I would've raised him alongside of Weaver, but you wouldn't let me. Instead you treated him like rubbish and his life ended in despair, no different from his parents. There's a chance to put that right now. Just because you don't want Gavin doesn't mean no one else does."

"I didn't save his life so he could fall into the hands of the woman who let his mother die!"

"If you-" Circe's words were cut off quite suddenly when she received a warning from the protective web that linked her to the other members of the Circle of Moonrise. Someone was in trouble.

"Rachael," she whispered, seeing only the faintest of impressions of an angelic form behind her eyelids. Yanking herself back to the present moment, she zeroed her gaze in on Crowley once more. "The twins are in danger. You must go to them _now._ "

"What are you-"

" _Now, Fergus!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to hear the song Crowley and Circe are singing, go check it out on youtube sometime. It's called 'Tha Mo Ghaol Air Àird a' Chuain' (My Love Is On the High Seas). A little difficult to tell without the music here, but it's actually very beautiful.


	14. I'll Keep a Part of You With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "I'll let you leave, Angelface, but don't think it's gonna be that easy to get back to the land of the living. You're gonna have to go through Purgatory to get back, and the place is probably a little different from when we played house there."...
> 
> "Ever since the Fall, Anubis has been guarding lost souls. If you allow us to lead you to him, he will be able to protect you, keep you from deteriorating further. I know you don't need me to tell you this, but the others cannot see it. You have already deteriorated a great deal. It will not take much for you to become vengeful, and from there, there's no coming back," Kiah explained gently...
> 
> "Merry, please…don't do this," Lailah pleaded with her, now powerless within the ring. "This is exactly what Hannah wants. You'll be walking right into her hands."...
> 
> "Hannah? We're ready to deal. Tell us where you're keeping Elaine."
> 
> "The twins are in danger. You must go to them now."
> 
> "What are you-"
> 
> "Now, Fergus!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to the story. As always, so sorry these updates take so long. I definitely don't say it enough, but many thanks to all of you who read, leave kudos, and comment. It keeps me going. Hope you enjoy.

" _Meredith Ann Serra, I promise you if you don't open this door_ _ **this instant**_ _, you won't see the outside of this house until you're thirty!" Rae Serra shouted as she pounded on their bedroom door._

" _Y'know, Mom, that's what you might call an empty threat!" Merry fired back through the locked door._

_Elaine, for her part, had been trying not to listen to her sister argue with their parents. She'd been in an almost catatonic state ever since Merry had saved her from the mirror. Following orders from Sam over the phone, Merry had retrieved salt from the kitchen, using it to create a circle in their bedroom for Elaine to stand in. Merry had also brought a carving knife with her, but Elaine wasn't sure what exactly she planned to do with that. After setting up the circle, she'd locked their door and window, ready to stand guard until Sam and Dean arrived._

_After a time, they'd heard a commotion from downstairs, and when their parents had barred the two brothers from entering, they'd come around to their window, actually climbing up and in that way. While their parents continued to shout outside the door, Dean poured some sort of dust in a circle around Merry's salt circle and she and Sam talked._

" _Do you know what it is?" Merry demanded as she watched the two men canvas the room._

" _We think so, but we're going to have to talk to your mom in order to fill in the blanks," Sam said, unlocking the door before Merry could protest. Rae and Tony Serra immediately came charging into the room._

" _You two had better get out of my house right this minute or I'm calling the cops!" their dad shouted._

" _Oh, my babies, they didn't hurt you, did they?" their mom asked as she moved toward Elaine, but before she could cross the circle, Merry jumped in front of Elaine, actually brandishing the carving knife at their mother._

" _Merry, what are you doing?" their mother demanded quietly while Elaine looked on in shock._

" _Twice something's tried to kill my sister and you act like nothing's wrong. You know what it is and you're gonna tell us the truth_ _ **right now!**_ _"_

_For several moments, their mom just stared at them in shocked amazement, as if she couldn't believe any of this was happening. Sam was the one to finally break the tension, stepping between them and resting a hand on Merry's._

" _Put it down, Merry. We can sort this out like sane people."_

" _Sane? Dunno about sane," Dean said angrily, crossing his arms as he surveyed their parents. "What kinda sane person sells their kid to a demon?"_

 **Please, Elaine.** _**Please** _ **wake up! You won't last much longer. You've got to fight it.**

" _What?" Elaine asked, voice trembling as she looked to the man who'd saved her life._

" _You're crazy!" their father snapped at him._

" _And you, Rae?" Sam asked their mother, the only one who hadn't reacted to Dean's statement. "You know what we're talking about, don't you."_

" _N-no," Rae Serra said, though the fear in her eyes clearly answered in the opposite. "I have no idea what you mean."_

" _You're gonna do that?" Dean asked, voice thick with accusation. "You're gonna look your daughter in the eye and lie to her? Tell her you love her and there's no way you'd ever just trade her life away like that?"_

" _No," Rae whispered, shaking her head as tears began to gather in her eyes. "It isn't…it's not like that."_

" _Then what exactly is it like?" Dean snarled, glaring at her through narrowed eyes. "She's your_ _ **kid!**_ _What excuse could you_ _ **possibly**_ _have?!"_

 _Rae looked away from Dean as she began to cry. "I didn't…I didn't_ _**know.** _ _"_

" _At first, we thought it might be some sort of curse," Sam started before Dean could continue with his angry tirade. "Maybe even a vengeful spirit, but then we got into your medical history. A little over fourteen years ago, you were undergoing treatments for infertility, in spite of your doctor telling you it wouldn't do any good, and then suddenly there you were, pregnant with twins. It was a medical impossibility. None of the doctors could figure it out. There was_ _ **no possible way**_ _for you to get pregnant with Merry and Elaine, yet here they are, fourteen years later."_

" _They were our miracle," Tony said quietly, looking past the brothers to his daughters. "We…started going to church again after they were born…our angels."_

_Dean actually snorted at this. "Angels had nothin' to do with it. Guess your wife forgot to mention that part."_

" _Mom?" Elaine whispered, moving to the very edge of the circle and peeking around her sister's shoulder. "What are they saying?"_

 _Her mother couldn't look her in the eye. All she could seem to do was stare at the carpet as she wept, whispering, "I'm sorry…Elaine, my baby…I'm_ _**so sorry.** _ _"_

" _Rae?" her father said softly, moving toward his wife and laying a hand on her shoulder. "What did you do?"_

" _There's only one way to make the impossible possible," Sam said quietly. "Your wife made a deal with a demon."_

" _That…that's impossible," her father murmured, though Elaine could see his grip on her mother's shoulder tighten. "You people are insane."_

" _You think?" Dean challenged. "Ask her yourself. Would've been almost fifteen years ago now. She went to a crossroads and summoned a demon, asked it to give her a baby. It gave her what she wanted, but a demon deal comes with a pretty hefty price tag."_

" _Normally the human's cost is paid with their soul. They have their heart's desire for ten years, then a hell hound comes to collect. An eternity in Hell," Sam explained. "Only something different happened this time. That's the only part we couldn't figure out. Why would the demon want the soul of one of the children it had caused to be born?"_

" _It was the only deal he would make," her mother finally admitted, turning away from all of them. "I would have children, twins, and he would even give me longer than the standard ten years…only…when the time was up…I would have to give the firstborn up…to be sent to Hell."_

" _Oh, God," Elaine whispered, stumbling back several steps. Dean quickly stepped into the circle to keep her from falling out of it, gently holding her up. Her own mother… "Oh,_ _ **God.**_ _"_

" _I didn't want to. I tried to argue…said I was willing to go to Hell just to be able to have a baby, but he wouldn't deal. It was his way or nothing…and I was so desperate, I agreed. I made the bargain."_

" _Mom, how could you_ _ **do this?!**_ _" Merry was the one to demand in anger._

" _If I hadn't done it…neither of you would've been born," their mother offered up lamely._

" _I would've_ _ **rather**_ _not been born! I would_ _ **rather**_ _not exist than be a part of what you've done! How did you expect me to live knowing my life was bought with Elaine's?!"_

" _There were times I'd convinced myself it wasn't real…that the two of you really were just my miracle and nothing else. But I've been worried all this year, then you nearly drowned…and I knew the price was going to be paid no matter what I did."_

" _Fourteen years. That was the amount of time it gave you?" Sam asked._

" _Yes…not a moment longer. He'll come tonight. You…you said you could help her. Will you save her?_ _ **Can**_ _you?" Rae asked, finally looking up at the two brothers._

" _We can and we will, but not because you asked," Dean said fiercely while Elaine clung to him. "We'll help her because she's fourteen years old and she doesn't deserve the shit the woman who should have protected her saddled her with."_

 **Why won't you wake up, Elaine? You know what's going to happen. Why do you want to watch them die all over again? You've** _**got** _ **to wake up! The others need you. You can't just sit here and let them die!** _**Wake up!** _

XxX

Hannah had to admit that when she saw Merry approaching her alone, she was more than a little suspicious.

The young angel had set up operations in an abandoned mine outside of Harlan, Kentucky. Even if her current base was discovered, the network of underground tunnels went on for miles. She could stay hidden for as long as it took her to complete her task.

She'd told the hunter and the witch to meet her in a clearing not far from the main entrance to the old mine. She had no intention of releasing Elaine until Merry gave her what she needed, and as she'd explained to Rachael during their exchange, if they decided to go back on their deal and kill her, they would have no hope of finding Elaine before she died of blood loss. Now that Meredith Serra came to her alone through the dark woods, she couldn't help but wonder what sort of trickery they might have afoot.

"Where is the witch?" Hannah asked.

"Back in town waiting for you to double cross us. I came, just like you wanted. What do I have to do?" Merry demanded quietly, glaring at Hannah through narrowed eyes.

Slowly, deliberately, Hannah drew out a chain she wore around her neck. Attached were three small phials – one filled with the silver and scarlet remnants of Gilda's wings, one filled with Elaine's blood, and an empty one. This she unhooked from the chain and tossed across the small distance between herself and the human. "Fill it up. Only when that phial is filled and back around my neck will I take you to your sister."

"Fine," Merry hissed, taking out a dagger and slicing it across her forearm, waiting for a good trickle of blood to get flowing before holding the phial to it. As the small glass vessel filled with her blood, she kept her eyes on the angel the whole time. When the phial was full, she resealed it and tossed it back to Hannah. "There. You have what you want. Now take me to my sister."

"As you wish," Hannah said quietly as she linked the phial back onto the chain. "Follow me."

XxX

Merry followed the small ball of werelight through the underground tunnel with no small amount of trepidation. The darkness she moved through was thick and oppressive, with the tiny glow casting its light only a few feet in each direction and moving steadily onward, leaving little room for tripping over rocks. If Rachael had done her job right, the spell was leading her to Elaine. When the search area had been the entire continental United States, neither she nor Sekhmet had had the skill to track Elaine, but once Hannah had given them a more specific location, Rachael had been able to cook up this tracking spell for her.

She and Rachael hadn't been able to get a proper map of the old tunnels around Harlan, but they'd been able to discover at least three entrances to the network. Operating under the assumption that Hannah was using the one nearest the meeting coordinates, they'd started from the entrance closest to that, with Rachael casting her spells before doubling back to meet up with Hannah. Merry knew their little ruse wouldn't last long, so she hoped desperately that she was on the right trail.

 _I'm coming, Laney. I'm coming. Just hold on,_ she repeated as she followed Rachael's spell on through the dark. She didn't know if Elaine was aware of her in the same way she was of her twin, but she kept repeating the words regardless, taking comfort from them just as much as she hoped to give it.

She knew it couldn't have been all that long since she left the light of the moon behind her for the eternal gloom of the mining network, but the further she traveled into the earth, the more it seemed to her she'd been lost down here for days…and the more she had time to think about what she'd done to get this far.

 _You betrayed them. Cas, Hunter, Lailah…but more than that, you betrayed_ _**Sam's** _ _trust. He didn't_ _**have** _ _to help you eight years ago. How is it any better than what Dean did to you?_

 _It's different,_ she argued with herself. _Sam doesn't have to listen to his brother scream when he lies awake at night. If he'd had to hear the demon in his head, he never would've made me wait._

_I hope you don't expect them to welcome you back with open arms after what you did. How can they trust you?_

_It doesn't matter. Nothing matters so long as Elaine is safe. They'll still have to keep me hidden from Hannah. They can keep me in the dungeon for all I care. I don't care what they do to me. I just need my sister to be okay._

_And what happens if_ _**Elaine** _ _ends up hating you for what you've done?_

 _Shut up!_ she snapped at herself, but before she could further contemplate the horror of that idea, she noticed a dim light up ahead, just beyond the reach of Rachael's spell.

"Elaine," she whispered, just barely managing to resist the urge to rush headlong into danger. Rather than race ahead of the werelight, she allowed it to lead her forward, into the new chamber.

An old lantern burned feebly on a table in the small side chamber, and chained to a chair at the far end was her twin.

"Elaine!" she cried out fearfully as she raced to her, dropping to her knees in front of her. Her skin was shockingly pale and her eyes were closed, her head lying hopelessly to one side as she struggled for every breath she took. Merry felt fear grip her heart as she seized Elaine's wrists in her hands, shaking her. "Elaine, can you hear me? It's me. It's Merry. Come on, Laney. You've _got_ to wake up."

Only when her gaze drifted down Elaine's right side did she see the cause of her frailty. There was a tube jammed into her arm, feeding her blood drop by drop into a pack beside the chair. There was no way to know just how much blood Hannah had drained from her, but it was painfully obvious Elaine didn't have much time left, and there was no way Merry could just disconnect her from the drip and take her out of here. She would have to find a way to stop the bleeding first. With how much blood Elaine had clearly lost already, she couldn't risk her losing any more.

"Laney, _please._ There's no time. Wake up. Please. Open your eyes!"

XxX

_There was little conversation as the minutes ticked down to midnight. Elaine and Merry were left sitting in the circle of salt and goofer dust while their parents paced the room. Dad had armed himself with Merry's carving knife. Sam had lined every possible entrance to the room with salt and Dean had drawn some sort of symbol on the ceiling above the circle – something he called a devil trap._

" _We can't kill this thing, not really," Sam explained calmly. "All we can really do is try to offer up a different deal."_

" _Then what do we-" Dad started to ask, but was suddenly interrupted by the old ballerina clock mounted above Elaine's bed chiming out the hours. Every one of them held their breath when the twelfth chime sounded – and not a minute after the clock had fallen silent, the bedroom window blew open and a strong gale began to blow the salt and dust away. Almost immediately, a strange red smoke shot in through the open window and quickly entered her father._

" _Dad!" she cried out, making to move toward him._

" _Get back!" Dean ordered sharply, but before he could interfere, Merry had stepped in front of her, shoving her back as their father made a grab for her. Instead of Elaine, it was Merry who received the carving knife through her shoulder, leaving her screaming in pain as the blade passed through skin and muscle._

" _MERRY!" Elaine cried out in horror as she watched her own father shove her sister aside. Looking up at her father from where she'd fallen, Elaine found that she'd never really noticed just what a menacing figure he could be. In her father's shadow, she'd always felt safe and loved. But now, as he looked down at her with those horrible red eyes, she knew he was going to kill her. He was going to wrap his hands around her neck and stop her breath forever._

" _Dad?" she whispered in fear. "Please."_

_Sam and Dean rushed at the man who had been her father, but all he had to do was raise a hand and the two were immediately thrown back against the wall. Her mother was frozen with fear, too shocked to move._

" _Alone at last," the demon said in a voice that both was and was not her father's. "I really had hoped to make this quick and painless for you, my lovely Elaine. Hellhound really is a messy way to go, but everyone else keeps getting in the way. It seems this is the best I can do."_

" _No!" Merry shouted, reaching out to grab the demon's ankle just as he was moving to step forward again. Tony fell to his knees, but he still managed to reach out and grab Elaine's ankle, making sure she couldn't get away. She screamed in pain when she felt the demon's skin burn against hers, searing down to the bone. Before Merry could interfere any further, she was thrown up against the wall with the Winchesters._

" _ **Elaine!**_ _" she cried out, struggling fiercely against the demon's hold on her, but to no avail._

" _Let her go!" Dean snarled defiantly._

" _Or you'll do what exactly?" the demon mocked. He might've continued to taunt them had he not chosen that moment to crawl on top of Elaine, entering the devil's trap Dean had drawn. Immediately, his power was broken and Merry and the Winchesters were dropped to the floor. The demon groaned in exasperation as he glanced up at the ceiling to see the lines of the symbol overhead. "Well…aren't we a clever pair of morons. I hope you realize, though, that I don't_ _ **need**_ _my power to kill her. That I can do easily right here and now," the demon pointed out as he wrapped a hand around her throat, threatening to cut off the flow of air._

" _And then what?" Sam asked as he got to his feet. "One collected soul's not gonna do you much good if you're stuck in a trap until the end of time."_

" _Maybe not. So what is it you want in exchange for my freedom?"_

" _We want you to give up your claim on Elaine Serra," Dean demanded. "Let her live out her life, no strings attached."_

" _Mm…no. I don't think so," the demon said, tightening his grip and starting to choke her. Elaine struggled against his hold, fighting to breathe, but she was no match._

" _All right. Have it your way," Sam started. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus-"_

" _You can exorcise me if you want. It won't matter," the demon said, though Elaine could feel him wincing in pain at the words as she continued to fight for another breath. "I'm not your average scum, boys. I'll have zero trouble getting back out. I won't stop. I'll just keep coming and coming until I get what's owed me. This girl is_ _ **mine!**_ _" he snarled, grip tightening just that little bit more. Already, Elaine's vision was beginning to go dark around the edges._

" _No! Please!" Elaine suddenly heard her mother's voice piercing the gathering darkness. "You can't take her! I'll do anything!"_

" _ **You'll**_ _do anything? You've already done 'anything', you who made this contract in the first place."_

" _I didn't know. I- I didn't_ _ **know!**_ _"_

" _What? How much you would love her? Did you honestly believe it of yourself back then? That you could give the life of one child to be able to keep another? If that's what you think, you_ _ **definitely**_ _belong in Hell."_

" _Then take me instead. Take my life for hers."_

" _M-Mom…no," Elaine tried to call out, flinging an arm in the direction of her mother's voice, reaching for her._

 _The demon laughed at this. "Yours? One soul is not equal to another, Rae. I have a lot vested in this deal. It will take more than just_ _**your** _ _soul to break it."_

_At this, the demon suddenly loosened his grip on her throat. Elaine gasped and coughed, struggling to pull as much air into her lungs as possible. Then he was whispering in her ear. "Oh, but I like that idea. How would that make you feel, lovely Elaine? If your parents were to die in your place? Let's see what daddy dearest thinks."_

_She tried to argue, to cry out,_ _**something,** _ _but she was barely managing to breathe. Speaking was well beyond her capacity at this point._

" _And would you look at that. He agrees," the demon said, immediately standing from where he had Elaine pinned to the floor. Merry immediately moved in to pull her from the trap. "That's the bargain, Rae. The pair of you for your daughter."_

" _Yes," her mother agreed immediately, beginning to move forward._

" _I don't want you to think it changes anything, though," he warned her, holding up a finger. "I am still owed Elaine Serra's soul, to be had upon occasion of her death. All this means is that I won't actively pursue her."_

" _Fine," her mother agreed after a moment's hesitation, nodding as she stepped into the trap, sealing the demon's bargain with a kiss._

" _ **Mom!**_ _" Elaine finally managed to cry out, but it was already done. The demon sneered as he stepped away from her._

" _So does someone want to let me out of this trap? I'd just_ _ **hate**_ _it if Tony didn't get to say goodbye to his children."_

_Glaring, Dean stepped forward and flung a knife at the ceiling, breaking the trap. Instantly, the same red smoke poured violently out of her father's mouth and fled back out the window. Her dad immediately collapsed to his knees._

" _Tony!" her mom shouted, dropping to the floor with him. "Are you all right?"_

" _For now," he whispered, briefly holding her in his arms. "But I guess that won't matter too much longer. Merry," he started, looking over at the two of them. "I'm so sorry. I didn't-"_

" _It's not bad," her sister tried to insist, though she was clearly in pain._

" _Dad," Elaine sobbed as he crawled to them, folding them both in a tight hug._

" _It's all right," he soothed as he kissed their foreheads, even though they all knew it wasn't. "It's all right. The two of you will be okay. You have to take care of each other now."_

" _Dad,_ _ **please!**_ _It's me. It should be me…_ _ **only**_ _me. You don't have to do this!"_

" _But I do, Elaine. You're my daughter. I have to protect you. And you two," he said, looking up at the Winchesters. "You'll protect them? You won't let anything happen to them?"_

" _We won't," Dean said firmly._

" _Good. I'll give you hell if you do," her dad said, trying feebly to make a joke._

" _Mom," Elaine tried to argue as her mother moved toward them. "Why are you doing this? It's supposed to be me. You can't-"_

" _This is my fault, sweetheart. Of course I'm going to do it. I don't want you to-"_

_Whatever she'd been about to say was interrupted by the sudden baying of dogs. Elaine clung to her mother in fear as her eyes darted around the room, unable to locate the source of the sound._

" _What's that?"_

" _I don't hear anything," Merry said._

" _It's the hellhounds. They're coming," Sam said._

" _You should get out of here. I don't think you'll want to see this," their dad said as he got to his feet, immediately pushing Merry toward Sam._

" _Mom, please…don't do this," Elaine begged, clinging to her mother even tighter._

" _I love you, Elaine. Please live," Mom said softly, placing a kiss on her forehead before Dean suddenly pulled her away from her._

" _No! Mom,_ _ **NO!**_ _" she screamed, fighting desperately against Dean's hold on her, but his grip was iron. He held her securely against his chest, not letting her look back at her parents. The last she heard from them before their door was bashed in was Dad whispering, 'We love you.'_

_The howling and snarling of the hounds was horrible, but worse still was the sound of her parents screaming as they were torn apart in her name. Despite Dean's hold on her, she did manage to turn her head to the side at least once, just in time to see her mother's chest ripped open. She couldn't look after that._

_When the sounds finally stopped, Dean slowly began to lead her out of the room, keeping her face pressed against his chest._

" _Don't look," he told her. "Just don't look. They wouldn't want you to see it."_

_Elaine didn't want to see it either, but she knew that it mattered little. There was a part of her that would never truly leave this room…a part that would carry the sounds of her parents' dying screams with her to the grave._

XxX

Having had no luck waking her sister, Merry finally opted to rip a strip off of her own shirt, pulling the needle from Elaine's arm and using the strip of fabric to bind the small puncture wound. Before she'd had a chance to search for the key to her twin's chains, though, she was interrupted. She turned just in time to see Hannah entering the chamber with a woman who could have easily been the Serra twins' triplet.

For a moment, the angel just looked confused, but as her gaze darted back and forth between the woman she was with and the woman attempting to free her prisoner, her eyes flared with rage as she began to understand. Summoning her angel blade, she immediately began to advance on the twins.

"Protege dei omne caeli et terrae!"

Before Hannah could reach the twins, a protective energy field shimmered into existence, cutting her off from them. Merry recognized the energy immediately, eyes widening in amazement as she reached forward to brush her fingers against it. When she felt the tingling warmth of magic traveling up her fingertips, she realized that the barrier was perfectly solid. This was Rachael's spirit form. Glancing over Hannah's shoulder at the woman who still looked like her, she could see her holding her hands up, muttering the same incantation over and over again, maintaining the barrier.

Hannah glared briefly at the other woman before attacking the field with her angel blade. She couldn't seem to penetrate the barrier, but the more she chipped away at it, the more the witch's first spell began to melt away, until it was Rachael standing at the mouth of the chamber instead of another Merry.

The real Merry kept her gaze locked on the angel, watching her face twist in anger as she stabbed at the spirit form over and over again. Being careful not to draw attention to the movement, she slowly drew her gun, knowing she'd have only one chance to use the gospel loaded in the chamber. Rachael couldn't hold the spirit form up forever.

Then, at the moment Hannah managed to pierce the barrier, several things happened at once.

Rachael cried out in pain as her spirit form was run through. A small arc of blood shot through the air as a stab wound appeared in her shoulder, causing her to drop to her knees. Rachael's cry distracted Merry just enough for her aim to be off, hitting Hannah in the arm rather than the chest. Last of all, Hannah's blade shattered the spirit form and passed straight through Merry's shoulder and into the rock behind her, pinning her to the cave wall.

Merry could feel the burn of Hannah's skin against hers as she collapsed against her, crying out in agony. When she looked at her, she could see threads of holy fire burning just below the surface, flaring through each vein. She knew a shot through the arm wouldn't be enough to kill the angel, but it was clearly causing extreme pain. In spite of this, though, Hannah still sneered when she looked at her, eyes blazing with fire.

"Did you really think you could fool me?" she demanded as she withdrew her angel blade from Merry's shoulder, leaving the new wound to bleed the precious liquid she needed. Quickly pulling out the third phial, she purged it of the false blood and held it to Merry's bleeding shoulder. "Even with all this, you have not saved your sister. She isn't trapped anymore. She just can't wake up. She has only minutes left to live."

"H-heal…her," Merry demanded as best she could. "We had…a deal."

"Yes, a deal _you_ attempted to break. Why should I keep faith with _you,_ Meredith Serra?" she asked as she reattached the refilled phial to the chain around her neck.

"Because if you don't, I'm going to redecorate this cave with the ashes of those stubs you call wings."

At the sound of the new voice, Hannah resummoned her angel blade, seizing Merry and spinning around with her, pressing the blade to her neck. She found herself facing Crowley, who sneered as he aimed his gun at her.

"So what happens if you _do_ kill me? You'll have no way of healing them. The witch and the last Serra might live long enough to receive some help, but your Elaine has only moments remaining. The more time we waste talking, the more her life ticks away."

"Heal them or this bullet goes right between your eyes," he warned again.

"No. I've got a better idea, demon. You give me that gun of yours. Then I'll heal them," she said, running her angel blade threateningly along Merry's exposed throat.

"And give up the one piece of insurance I have against you? Yeah, I don't bloody think so," he growled, making his own threat by cocking the trigger.

"She'll die."

"You won't let her."

"Yes, I will. Elaine Serra will die, and she'll be lost to you forever. It's your choice. That gun…or Elaine."

Crowley stood for several moments, torn. Why did it matter? Why did he care? Why this debilitating need to _feel?_ Why had he taken Cas to Dean that night and started all this in the first place? Why had Moose shot him up with his high and mighty hemoglobin? Why had he been so insistent on making that deal with Rae Serra? Why had he let himself hate Gavin so much? The child Nessa had given her last breath for…why hadn't he been able to save Nessa? Why couldn't he have died for her? Why had he made his deal at all? All his power…all the strength he'd gained over the centuries…what was it good for if it couldn't save one small life? Why wasn't he strong enough to stop this from happening…and why did he feel like something in him would break if he _let_ it happen? Too many questions, not enough answers, and no time left. Snarling in frustration, the former King of Hell set the gun on the floor and slid it across to the angel. Hannah quickly shoved Merry aside and picked up the weapon.

"You feathery buggers were supposed to protect humanity, weren't you? What happened? Why aren't you doing your bloody job?" Crowley growled angrily as he watched Hannah bend down to heal Merry of the stab wound and any lingering damage the angel blade had done to her soul.

"I _am_ doing it. It's hardly my fault the rest of you won't see that," she said as she moved past him toward Rachael, quickly healing her matching set of injuries. "If Castiel's child is born, it could be the end of everything."

"For once, I might have to agree with you," Crowley said with a sigh, careful not to make any sudden moves as Hannah got back to her feet.

"And yet you still don't want me to have this," Hannah said, holding up the gun for a moment. "Honestly, demon, whose side are you on?"

"Well…you never can tell who to trust, now can you."

"No…you can't," she said as she slowly began to back out of the chamber.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Crowley demanded quietly as he glared at the angel.

"Sorry. I've no more grace to spare. If I heal her, it will be at the cost of my own life," she said, never once faltering in her retreat.

"Hannah, I swear, if you don't put her right, I'm going to-"

"Going to what? You've nothing to threaten me with anymore."

"I'm not-"

"You were the one who made the decision to use Olivia against my vessel," Hannah interrupted sharply. "I'll be _damned_ if I let that go unpunished."

"Of the two of us, I'm the one who's not injured. How far do you expect to get before I catch up to you?" he growled, slowly following her retreat.

"Your bill of health can change very easily," she warned, aiming his own gun at him. "Besides, what would you rather do? Come after me…or comfort your little devil child in her final moments?"

With that, the angel disappeared, vanished into the darkness of the mining tunnels. Much as he wanted to pursue her, there was no denying that she was right. Maybe…maybe there was still something he could do.

"Crowley!" Merry called out to him. When he turned back, he saw her and Rachael gathered around Elaine. Even from across the chamber, he could see just how close to gone she was. She didn't have more than a few heartbeats left.

"What- what do we do?" Rachael stuttered out in fear as he approached them.

"Dammit, Elaine," Crowley muttered to himself, briefly reaching out a hand to touch the girl's pale cheek, fingers curling into a fist when he withdrew. "There is still one thing we can try."

"What?" Merry demanded.

"I'm limited in what I can do without Hell backing me up. We can't cheat on this one, girls. I _can't_ help her unless a deal is made," he explained.

"You mean…for a soul?" Rachael asked.

"No. Wouldn't do me much good at the moment to be dealing in souls for Hell. All we need is a transaction."

"Like _what,_ Crowley? We're out of time," Merry reminded him.

"I don't know! Make me a bloody sandwich! I like sandwiches!" he snapped at them, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Will that work?" Merry tried to ask, but before Crowley could respond, Rachael had pulled him in by the tie for an intense kiss on the lips. The former king's eyes widened in surprise and Merry blinked in amazement as she watched.

"Done," Rachael breathed when they finally separated. "Now make her open her eyes."

"I'll take it," the demon said, turning and taking a hold of Elaine's wrist, anchoring her soul to her body while his power moved through her, repairing instead of destroying.

All in an instant, the chains fell away from Elaine's body and the color returned to her skin. She blinked rapidly as she inhaled sharply, sitting up in the chair. Immediately, Merry and Rachael were both on her, barely giving Crowley time to step back before hugging her tightly between them.

"What…what happened?" she asked, slowly returning the crushing hugs with confusion in her eyes.

"Well…if I understand it correctly…Rachael just bought your life with a sandwich," Merry explained, glancing back over her shoulder at the former King of Hell.

"Crowley?" Elaine murmured with no less confusion as she looked toward him. The demon just shrugged.

"Hannah was going to let you die. That didn't work for any of us. So Rachael made a deal. She's going to make me a sandwich."

"And that…that works?"

"Well, you're _here_ aren't you? Gift horse and all."

"What…what about…the blood? What happened there?" Elaine asked, looking between Rachael and her sister.

"She got it," Merry answered, looking away from her twin in shame.

"Along with my gun, so the score currently stands at Hannah: four, Cas: two, and one unknown," Crowley said, slowly starting to pace the length of the small chamber.

"But…why would you give her the gun?" Elaine asked him.

"That…is something we will not be speaking of," Crowley snapped, not looking at them. "In the meantime, I suggest we all get back to Kansas, as I assume you left an angel there trussed up in holy fire in order to come here."

XxX

Tek and Kiah had warned Sam beforehand that they would have to take different routes to reach their destination. They would need to lead Kevin to New Mexico on foot – or whatever the spirit equivalent of on foot was – and he, Hunter, and Linda would have to travel by car. Neither spirit could properly explain it, but the two groups somehow arrived at their destination at the same time – an area known as the Bisti Badlands.

Sam had, understandably, been hesitant about walking into what was essentially a desert just as the sun was setting, but Tek and Kiah had said everything would be fine, and they hadn't given him reason to distrust them yet. So the two spirits led the way, both in jackal form, with Kevin following close behind, and the three living humans bringing up the rear of the group.

Just as Sam had feared, the darker the sky became, the more the temperature dropped. He and Linda were both fine in their coats, but as usual, Hunter had on nothing but a pair of jean shorts and a short-sleeved top made of green silk. He could see that she was trying to tough it out and say nothing of how cold it was getting, but the further they walked and the more vigorously she rubbed her arms to generate heat, the more he just couldn't take it anymore. Finally, he came to a halt, pulling his coat off. Linda stopped with him, but Hunter moved a few more steps before coming to a stop, not looking back at them.

"Hunt…please," he said after several moments of silence, not having to explain what it was he wanted.

"Sam…I can't. Don't ask me-"

"It's not just you," he reminded her, hating having to play the guilt trip card, but knowing it was the only way to convince her of what she needed to do. Slowly, she turned to face them.

"Maybe…if we do it slowly…if you help me…" she mumbled, unable to get a complete thought out.

"Whatever you need," Sam reassured her as he moved forward. When he reached her, he slowly draped the coat around her shoulders. "How're we doing?"

For several minutes, Hunter said nothing. She was shaking badly and it had nothing to do with the cold. She was gripping his arms tight enough to leave bruises, but he didn't care. He just kept his focus on her, looking into her eyes, wide with fear at the feel of rough fabric against her skin.

"Can't…get out," she whispered, voice choked with fear. "Sam…they…they're going to _kill me._ "

"It's all right. You're all right," Sam soothed, his grip on her shoulders firm but gentle. "I'm right here. We can stop anytime you want."

Slowly, she shook her head. "No. It's not…not real. I'm all right. Keep going."

Just as slowly, he helped her slip her right arm into the right sleeve. Then he repeated the motion with her left arm before pulling her into a tight embrace. She hugged him back just as fiercely, clinging to him for dear life. He could feel tears pouring down her cheeks as she buried her face in his chest.

"It's stupid," she sobbed quietly. "It's so stupid. Why won't it just _go away?_ "

"It's not. It's not stupid. It's not your fault," he continued to soothe, running his fingers gently through her hair. "Just breathe. You're going to be fine."

He said that, but he was no longer certain how much he believed it. As he held her in his arms, he could feel the mark of union wending its treacherous influence through both of them. With the feel of her pressed so close to his body, the scent of her so heavy in his nose, it took everything he had not to just lean down and press his lips sweetly against hers. He'd had just a small taste of her before and he wanted more. His body was already starting to burn with his _need_ for her. He held her with more than just a desire to comfort her, but to be as close to her as he could be…as close to being one as their separate bodies would allow. There was a dangerously large part of his heart that didn't even _want_ to fight the cupid's influence…that just wanted to give in and plunge as deeply into Hunter Silver as he possibly could…to know and love every atom of her existence. His lips trembled just above her head, aching beyond all reason to press a kiss to her hair…

…but then he remembered what Crowley had told them had happened between Dean and Cas…how what should have been a mark of their love had been twisted into a tool of their destruction…and how the same thing could so easily happen to him and Hunter. He knew she must have been feeling the same things he was in that moment, and that couldn't possibly be helping with the fear and anxiety she was dealing with. He couldn't let himself hurt her any worse than she already had been.

"N- no," he finally groaned, wrenching himself away from her, feeling the sudden absence as keenly as if a part of his own body had been torn away. When he looked into her eyes, he could see the same hurt – the same _longing_ – but he could also see that she understood.

"I…I'm sorry," she stuttered out, reaching a hand out to him, but stopping halfway.

"Not your fault," he returned, crossing that small uncrossed space between them so that his fingertips lightly brushed against hers.

"Thank you for the coat," she whispered.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I had to…will you be all right?" he ended up asking her.

"Yeah."

"And you're okay to keep an eye on her?" he asked Linda, who nodded, knowing better than to ask.

Nodding, Sam began to walk again, catching up with Kevin and the two spirits, who had stopped a fair distance ahead to wait for them. He hated to leave Hunter like this, but he knew they just couldn't be around each other right now. As they moved further into the badlands, they began to see spires of rock rising up from the earth. In some places, they seemed to cluster so thick they almost seemed to form a maze, and it was through this that Tek and Kiah led them.

"So…what was that about?" Kevin finally asked some time later.

"That one's about a hundred times more complicated than anybody's got time for," Sam said with a long sigh, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Lots happening in the family business?"

"Something like that."

"Well…there're about a hundred different pieces of advice I could give, but the only thing I can really say is I hope you don't let her go."

"You and me both, Kevin."

"You deserve some happiness."

Sam might have had more to say to that one, except that was the moment Tek and Kiah came to a halt, both raising their heads to sniff the air before shifting back into human form.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"This is it. We're here," Kiah answered as she and Tek moved to stand back to back, waiting for Hunter and Linda to catch up to them. Tek was the one to begin speaking after that. It was all said in an ancient language Sam didn't recognize, but at the same time it seemed to him that he was understanding it in his head.

"O, you who are the door keeper of the West, may I eat and live by air. May he who is safe and great guide me, that I may speak to the evening. May I come and go; may I see who is there. I will raise him up, I will speak my words to him when my throat is constricted. May I live. May I be saved after sleeping," the jackal spirit said, slowly raising his left hand in the air.

"To me belongs everything, and the whole of it has been given to me. I have gone in as a falcon, I have come out as a phoenix; the Morning Star has made a path for me, and I enter in peace into the beautiful West," Kiah continued, her own left hand slowly rising to join Tek's. Then they began to speak together, right hands rising into the air as one.

"O, you who are at peace, give me your arms, for I know the spells for guidance. Guide me!"

At this, a deep, soothing voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once answered them, booming throughout the desert.

"I go forth hale, one whose name is unknown. I am yesterday, one who views a million years. My name is one who passes on the paths of those who are in charge of destinies. I am the Lord of Eternity. I am he who protects you for eons. My shape is before me. My body is everlasting, my shape is eternity, Lord of Years, Ruler of Everlasting, and such is my name, for my name will not perish."

As the voice spoke, the world around them began to swirl and reforge itself, as if reality itself were being reimagined all about them. Through it all, that haunting voice continued to speak to them, talking them through the intense shift.

"I am the keeper of the gate, who ushers in those who are to be ushered in. I am one who guards the portals and who sets the gods in their places. To me belong the limits of the Netherworld. I am one who is at peace in the Silent Land. I am the Embalmer. I am a possessor of being, and to me belongs the shape of every soul."

When the voice ceased its chanting and the world ceased its spinning, they found themselves in a sort of clearing that could have been the center of the rock spire labyrinth. A small fire was burning near one of the rock walls and beside it sat a man dressed in worn blue jeans and a black leather vest. His skin was midnight black and his eyes were amber-colored. He was bald and he had several helix piercings along both ears, each adorned with a tiny golden hoop. Like Tek and Kiah, he wore an ankh pendant, but unlike theirs, his was solid silver, marked down the center with a set of hieroglyphics. The only other piece of jewelry he wore was a gold ring on his left ring finger, set with a lapis lazuli scarab. His upper arms were marked with a set of tattooed hieroglyphics and in those arms, he held a tiny baby. At first, he didn't seem to notice any of them. He just kept his focus on the crying child, singing quietly as he rocked her.

_Hush now, my baby,_

_Be still, love, don't cry._

_Sleep like you're rocked by the stream._

_Sleep and remember my last lullaby,_

_So I'll be with you when you dream._

After a few moments of this, the little girl finally began to calm down, and when she'd stopped crying, the man raised his arms and she disappeared like mist under the morning sun. Then he clasped his hands together and sang one final verse.

_River, o river,_

_Flow gently for me._

_Such precious cargo you bear._

_Do you know somewhere_

_She can live free?_

_River, deliver her there._

After the song had ended, the man just sat quietly with his eyes closed, inhaling and exhaling several times. When he finally opened his eyes and looked up at them, there was a tired smile on his face.

"Welcome," he said in that same rich baritone voice, spreading his arms wide. "Kiah, Tekhenu, I see you've brought me a new one."

"Yes, Kevin Tran," Tek introduced, stepping aside to allow Kevin to come forward.

"Ah, yes. The harbinger of our almighty God. I don't suppose that loyalty has paid off overly much."

"I wouldn't call it loyalty," Kevin said bitterly. "More like slavery."

"Mm, yes, that too," he said with a quiet chuckle. "His sons may claim otherwise, but they have a nasty habit of…forgoing consent."

"You have beef with the archangels?" Sam asked.

"Most of them, though I don't necessarily blame them for the mess they were left with. What I really don't care for is parents who abandon their children," he said as he got to his feet.

"Well, you'd know about that one, wouldn't you…Anubis," he said quietly, and again the old god laughed.

"Yes, I would. Be glad I have a more even temperament than most of the other ancients, else a jibe like that might not have gone well for you. You don't care for the ancients, I take it?"

"Not so much, no. All the ones I've tangled with would just as soon eat a human as look at him. I even had the, ah…pleasure…of putting your father down for a nap."

"Oh, that was you? I should thank you for that, then. Osiris has become…quite vindictive in his old age."

"That's a nice way of putting it."

"I don't doubt it. The state of the ancients is yet another thing that can be tacked up to the archangels' rule. When Michael insisted that worship go only to their father, the ancients became bitter over the power they lost from the loss of human worship. Granted, I don't approve of how my brothers have dealt with that bitterness, but it's not entirely their fault."

"So…what? You're saying monotheism wasn't God's idea?" Hunter asked, drawing yet another chuckle from Anubis.

"Most probably not. Nothing's been his idea since the war for Heaven and that was a long time before the Hebrews were carting their ark around the desert. The only good thing to come out of that mess was Gabriel."

"You know Gabriel?" Sam asked, eyebrows raising slightly.

"Yes, one of the few who knew Loki as Gabriel from the first, and maybe the only one who knew that Lucifer didn't kill him. In fact, he was the one who informed me of the situation in Heaven. For a time, all I knew was that souls were piling up on Earth and my help was needed again."

"Why would you help?" Sam found himself asking. "You're a pagan god, too. Why should we believe you don't have it in for us?"

"Sam-" Kiah started to protest.

"It's all right, Kiah," Anubis said gently as he raised a hand. "He's spent his life hunting creatures who hunt humans. He has every right to be suspicious. But I submit to you, Sam Winchester, is the fate of the ancients any different from what has become of the angels? We were all given power to protect your kind. What is it we can do for ourselves when you decide you do not want our help anymore? Some take well to having the freedom to decide. Others do not. Not all angels have it in for humans and neither do all ancients. In my heyday, it was my job to guide the souls of the dead to their rest. That is still my job today. I never stopped doing my job just because the world stopped looking. I helped where I could, and now that the Reaper hierarchy is in disarray, these souls have nowhere else to go. For as long as they need me, I will be here."

"So you don't have any plans for these souls once the gates reopen?" Sam continued to press. He couldn't hand Kevin over to this guy until he was sure.

"None but to see them where they belong. I ask for nothing in return. I just want to do what I can to help. It's what I'm _here_ for," the old god reiterated.

"Why?" Sam repeated. "I'm just trying to understand why you don't hate humans."

"I gather you've not dealt with many death ancients before," Anubis said as he moved around the fire toward them.

"Osiris was-"

"No, he wasn't," the god interrupted before he could finish. "Not really. They called him Ruler of the Dead, but he had no direct contact with them. That was _my_ job. You don't know what it entails to be a death deity, do you."

"So? Why should that make any difference?" Sam asked, forcing himself not to step back as Anubis moved closer to him.

"It makes a difference. Do you know what your friend experiences every moment? What Tekhenu and Kiah live through every day? Let me show you," he said just before pressing a hand against Sam's head.

Instantly, his ears were filled with the sound of screaming – old and young, men and women, everything in between, every conceivable sound of pain a human voice could make. It was all streaming through his head, lost and confused, alone and in pain, every soul that had died since Metatron had sealed off Heaven.

_Mommy, where are you?_

_I don't know what happened. I just saw the truck coming at me and-_

_I died. I died. The cancer won. Why does it still hurt? Why am I not dead?_

_Please don't kill me!_

_So you hand me that blade, and you let me do what I gotta do, or so help me—_

_I just want to die._

_Make it stop!_

_NOOO!_

_You need to run. Now!_

_I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you!_

_Why-_

_I can't-_

_Don't-_

_Please…_

_Someone help me!_

" _NO!_ " Sam shouted, pulling himself back from Anubis. Then he was falling backwards.

"SAM!" he heard Hunter shouting. She moved in to try and catch him, but his bulk ended up carrying them both to the ground. When his eyes finally managed to refocus, he found himself looking up at her.

"Are you all right? _Are you all right?_ " she demanded several times.

"I'm okay," he responded with a faint nod, reaching for her hand and gripping it tightly. If it pained her at all, she didn't say anything and he was grateful. For a moment, that had almost been like…being back in the Cage, and that was not something he needed to be thinking about just now.

"I'm sorry to do that to you, but I needed to have you understand," Anubis apologized. "That is what I hear, what I feel…every moment of every day. I can hear them all. I can see their suffering. If you know who I am, then you know I suffered in my turn just for existing. It is not in me to turn away from suffering. So long as I have power to offer succor to lost souls, I will do it. Now…will you let me do my job?" he asked.

"Kevin?" Sam started as Hunter helped him sit up. "We got you here. It's your call."

For several moments, Kevin's gaze shifted between his mom, Anubis, and Sam. When he finally turned his full focus on the old god, he asked, "Assuming the gate ever is opened, would I be able to see my mom again before I go?"

"That seems a fitting enough reward for one who has given all you have given. I don't see why not," Anubis said with an easy smile.

Slowly, Kevin nodded. "Yeah. All right. Okay. Mom?" he said to her, wishing he could hug her properly.

"Go, sweetheart. Go. You deserve to rest. I'll see you again," she said with a tearful smile.

"Yeah…okay," he said, slowly turning back to Anubis, who continued to smile as he held out a hand to him.

"Come, Kevin Tran. Come be at peace."

Finally stepping forward, Kevin reached out for the hand that was offered to him. The moment he took it, everything else faded away for him and he disappeared from sight.

"Don't worry. He's all right," Anubis reassured them. "He's with me now."

"Thank you," Linda said. "Thank you so much for helping him. I…I had been afraid…that…"

"There's no need to be afraid anymore. I will keep him safe," the god promised as he moved to help Sam and Hunter to their feet.

"Yeah, thank you," Sam said. "I'm sorry I had to play devil's advocate. I just…I didn't want to let him down again."

"I understand. I have had brothers in my time, Sam Winchester."

"There was one other thing I wanted to ask you before we head back, though."

"Yes?"

"Tek and Kiah…when we first met, they said we were the same…like they were the same as me and Hunter."

"I know."

"So what does that mean?" Hunter asked.

"Unfortunately, I can offer no more than they could. My memory of certain past events is also imperfect. I can only tell you that I gave Tekhenu and Kiah my powers so that they might somehow prevent history from repeating itself. I don't know why I did this. Even I sometimes forget that I did."

"You don't think this could have anything to do with…Israfil, do you?" Sam asked.

At the mention of the mystery archangel's name, something almost seemed to _break_ in the jackal god's face. He blinked several times as his amber eyes filled with tears. When one actually managed to escape, he touched a hand to his face in confusion.

"I have no idea why…but my heart _breaks_ for this lost archangel. I feel a great well of sorrow and anger that was not there before."

"Sounds about right," Sam said quietly.

"It has everything to do with this Israfil, I fear. I know I have no right to ask you to allow Metatron's ritual to go forward, but I'm also afraid it might be the only way for us to learn the truth about all this, short of getting the information from Metatron."

"That son of a bitch won't be talking anytime soon, not to us, anyway," Sam said with a slight growl.

"Tell me, have Gabriel and Castiel returned from Purgatory yet?" he asked them.

"No, not yet," Hunter answered.

"That is troublesome. When they do, do you think you all might be able to return here? There are things I wish to discuss with Castiel."

"Sure. Just hope he doesn't take too much longer to get back," Sam said with a frustrated sigh.

"Sometimes all we can do is hope," Anubis said. Then, with a tiny grin and a snap of his fingers, he transported the group out of the desert and directly back to the spot where Sam had left their car parked.

"Well…that was a lot easier than I expected," Sam said, blinking several times as he glanced around.

"Sure was. Guess we'd best get to looking for a motel," Hunter said, slipping his coat off before she'd even finished speaking and handing it back to him. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it as he watched her climb into the passenger seat.

 _Kevin is safe,_ he reminded himself as he joined Hunter and Linda in the car. _That's the important thing right now. Next to worry about will be getting Cas home safe and rescuing Elaine from Hannah._

XxX

Castiel had no way of knowing how long he'd been walking through Purgatory. He only stopped very occasionally to rest and whenever Rose needed rest, he could easily continue moving while she slept in his arms. The cannibalization seemed to be less prevalent as he journeyed, but he could also feel it spreading at their backs, consuming the regions they'd already traveled through.

Dean hadn't been lying about no one bothering them. They'd passed several gangs of monsters, even one group of leviathans, and each and every creature had taken one look and bowed low in deference before backing away.

No one would dare to harm the new king's consort, after all.

 _No,_ Cas reminded himself sharply as he continued on. _Don't think of it like that._

"Papa, wait!" Rose called out suddenly, struggling to get free of his arms. "I think someone's out there."

"There are many someones out there, Rose. What makes this one any different?" he asked as he let her down, maybe having grown a little too used to the deference of Purgatory's inhabitants.

"No. Somebody's there. I know it," she insisted as she wandered a little further into the trees, calling out, "Hello? Who is it? I know you're there! Please come out!"

After several minutes of this, Cas was almost surprised to see someone actually emerge from a nearby cluster of trees – and it wasn't just any someone, either.

"Benny?" Cas called out in amazement as he began to recognize the vampire's familiar form.

"Well, if it ain't Dean Winchester's precious angel. The hell are you doin' back down here, Castiel?" he asked as he moved cautiously closer.

"Dean brought us here. A lot of things have changed since you rescued Sam and Bobby," the angel said as he came up behind his daughter, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"That part I know. Kinda hard to miss all the 'under new management' construction goin' on around this place. Never thought I'd see the day when Dean Winchester was leadin' a band of demons," Benny said, gaze shifting from the angel down to the little girl.

"Has Dean…approached you?" Cas asked.

"Sure been tryin'. I been keepin' one step ahead of 'em, but I don't know how much longer I can keep that up. Either you play by Dean's new rules or you get put through the incinerator. Personally, I don't want anythin' to do with Dean becomin' the king of Hell, so I just been tryin' to lay low. Not sure how many pockets of pure Purgatory are still left, though, with things goin' the way they are. Guess there ain't much to say on the day we got sweet li'l junebugs like this 'un bein' sent down here. What the hell's goin' on up there anyway?"

"She's going on," Cas answered succinctly, nodding down at Rose, who was still gazing curiously up at Benny.

"You're a friend of Daddy's?"

"Daddy?" Benny asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced up at Cas.

"Dean Winchester is my dad," Rose answered proudly.

Dropping to one knee as he looked into Rose's eyes, Benny nodded slowly. "I surely do believe that, petite. You got those same lily pad greens. One thing's sure, though, baby girl. You ain't all human," he said, gaze shifting back up to Cas. "Dean finally get himself figured out, then?"

"If you want to call it that," Cas said, shutting his eyes briefly as he looked away from the vampire. "It's…a very long story."

"You angel boys can do that sorta thing, though? Just turnin' out kids without mind to what kinda body you got?"

"Yes. I haven't 'turned her out' yet, as you say. Rose is still unborn. This is just how she manifests in this realm."

"Rose," Benny said quietly as he looked at Dean's daughter. "Sure do got yourself a pretty name, petite."

"Thank you," she said, smiling shyly, and when Castiel saw the way Benny smiled back at her, he knew he would have another ally in the fight to protect her, and he could use as many of those as he could find.

"You should come with us," he said as he picked Rose up again.

"What do you mean?" Benny asked as he got to his feet.

"It isn't safe to remain here. Dean will catch up with you eventually, and you know what will happen when he does. We're making for the portal back to Earth. You should come back with us."

"Oh…I don't know about that," Benny said, taking a step back, though he certainly looked tempted when he looked down at Rose again. "There's a reason I didn't go back before."

"I know that, but staying here isn't quite the same thing as it was when you remained behind before. At the rate things are going, there won't _be_ a Purgatory much longer. I'd hate for Dean to know that he killed you when this is all over. We could use your help in this fight."

"I can help you," Rose suddenly declared.

Benny blinked in confusion several times before murmuring, "What?"

"If you want to be human again…and go to Heaven when you die…I think I can do that. Is that all right? That wouldn't be a bad thing to do?" she asked, twisting in Cas' arms to look up at him. Smiling at her, the angel nodded.

"Yes, that would be all right. I think it would be a very good thing to do."

Benny's eyes shone briefly as he looked at Rose, but then he nodded and the scant signs of tears vanished immediately. "I surely do believe you are Dean Winchester's daughter, petite. You can count me in," he said as he looked up at Cas. "And maybe you can explain a bit of what's goin' on to me as we go."

"Well, we've certainly got time," Cas said with a shrug as he began to walk again. Benny easily fell into step beside him. "There's a lot to explain."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I imagine you all know where Anubis' little lullaby is from, but for anyone unfamiliar, the song is 'Yocheved's Lullaby' from 'The Prince of Egypt.' Also, Tek, Kiah, and Anubis' little bit of dialogue is from 'The Book of the Dead.' It isn't just one specific spell, though. It's an amalgamation of a few different ones. One other note for those interested, Rachael's incantation translates to 'All spirits of heaven and earth, protect.' Hope everybody's still enjoying my little story and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.


	15. The Cruel Angel's Thesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "I don't want you to think it changes anything, though," he warned her, holding up a finger. "I am still owed Elaine Serra's soul, to be had upon occasion of her death."...
> 
> "Well…if I understand it correctly…Rachael just bought your life with a sandwich,"...
> 
> "So the score currently stands at Hannah: four, Cas: two, and one unknown,"...
> 
> "But I submit to you, Sam Winchester, is the fate of the ancients any different from what has become of the angels? We were all given power to protect your kind. What is it we can do for ourselves when you decide you do not want our help anymore? Some take well to having the freedom to decide. Others do not."...
> 
> "It has everything to do with this Israfil, I fear. I know I have no right to ask you to allow Metatron's ritual to go forward, but I'm also afraid it might be the only way for us to learn the truth about all this,"...
> 
> "At the rate things are going, there won't be a Purgatory much longer."...
> 
> "If you want to be human again…and go to Heaven when you die…I think I can do that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hopefully I haven't kept you waiting too terribly long. I express my love with a nice shiny new chapter. Although…nice and shiny may not be the best adjectives to describe said chapter.

Gavin groaned as he hauled the bags of trash out of the kitchen door, lugging them to the dumpster at the end of the alley. Once the rubbish had been disposed of, he took a moment to rest, leaning against the bin and looking past the harbor, out onto the ocean. The last light of day was just leaving the sky.

The proximity to the ocean was one of the few good things about this job. There wasn't a lot of work available for a man fresh off the boat from the early eighteenth century. Though he didn't suppose his life would've been all that different coming to the colonies back in his own day, but at least there he would have understood how the world worked a little better. Here he hardly knew up from down. He didn't know anyone, he didn't know how to enjoy anything in this century, and all he could really manage to do was work this simple kitchen job to pay for the small apartment he'd found. Sometimes he wondered if maybe his father shouldn't have just let him go back to face his death like he should have. It could have been the first proper kindness he'd ever done him.

"Gavin MacLeod?" a woman's voice called out to him. He immediately snapped into a standing position and was halfway through an apology before realizing it wasn't his manager.

He hadn't noticed it while looking out to the ocean, but the fog had rolled in thick on the streets, and out of that fog emerged a woman. She was like a vision from his own world, clothed in a heavy green travel cloak. When she pulled back the hood, he could see she was a much older woman with eyes the same color as her cloak.

"How…how do ye know my name?"

"My name is Circe Jones. I'm…well…I'm your aunt."

At this, Gavin immediately took a few steps back. He'd been drawn to her from the first, but now he knew there must be something dangerous about her for her to tell a lie like that. "I'm sorry, Mistress. That trick might work on any other lad ye find on the street, but if ye really knew me, ye'd know that's not possible."

"But I do know you, Gavin. I know that your father was Fergus Roderick MacLeod. I know that he's now the demon Crowley and that you were brought here to be used against him. I know your mother was Nessa Mac Cionaoith. I know that she'd wanted to have children ever since she _was_ a child, and that she miscarried five times before becoming pregnant with you. I know you were born in 1698…and that you never knew Nessa…that she gave her last breath to give you your first. I know that your father couldn't bear to let himself love you…because he'd loved your mother so deeply and lost her."

"So…what?" Gavin interrupted, feeling something hurting and desperate clawing at his heart as he took another step back into the alley. "That's supposed to excuse…the way he treated me?"

"No. I never said that," she said softly, being careful as she followed his retreat. "But I think he's well payed for his mistakes by now."

"If ye're really…my aunt…how is it ye're still alive? Are ye also a demon?" he asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"No, I'm not. I'm what your father's people would call a witch."

"Why do ye say it like that? My father's _people?_ "

"I'm not entirely human, Gavin. Nor was your mother, and neither, for that matter, are you. I don't suppose Fergus would've told you this, but you come of nobler stock than you might think."

"So what is it that ye want?"

"The chance to offer you a family. Fergus told me you were here and I couldn't stand the thought of my sister's boy alone. If you'd like…I want you to come back with me to meet the rest of my family."

"Why now?" Gavin asked her, voice full of bitterness as he looked down at his feet. "Why do ye want me _now?_ If ye felt this way…why didn'a ye take me away from him when it still might have made a difference?"

"I tried," she explained, stepping forward to take his hand, which he allowed. "I wasn't in time to save your mother's life, and Fergus was in a bad way…in no fit state to raise a child. I offered to raise you myself, but he wouldn't allow it. In those days, I think his need to blame someone for the loss of Nessa was greater than any rational thought. His refusal had more to do with _me_ than it did with you."

Gavin actually felt tears come to his eyes at this. To know that someone had cared about him, even then…had tried to do right for him – well, that was more care than he'd received thus far in life, and with that simple taste of affection, he found he wanted more. "Nessa?" he asked quietly.

"She was…my little sister," the old witch answered, old sorrow welling up in her eyes as she spoke. "Nessa was everyone's darling. We all loved her…and I think Fergus loved her the most of all. He was shattered when she died. I don't suppose he's told you about his life before you were born."

Gavin shook his head, gripping her hand a little tighter.

"Then I'd like to show you. I'd like you to know who your mother was, and that your father was once a good man. They would've wanted better for you. I want you to know where you came from, Gavin MacLeod. Will you let me show you?"

Gavin drew several shaky breaths before finally nodding, gripping Circe's hand all the more tightly as he allowed her to lead him out into the evening mist.

XxX

Sam had come back to the bunker expecting to find more work waiting. There was always more work to be done, even when they _weren't_ facing conflicts of the world-ending variety. The last thing he'd expected to come home to was Lailah worriedly pacing in a circle of holy fire.

When the angel matron had explained to them what had happened, he'd been ready to rush off after the young hunter and the witch, but Lailah had just as quickly informed them it was too late. It was already done. There was nothing to do but wait for them to return. This was why Sam found himself sitting in the library around midnight as the hunter twins trooped into the bunker with Rachael and Crowley.

"How could you do it?" he asked Merry. "I told you to wait. You _promised_ me you'd wait. Now we've got even more of a mess to deal with than we already did."

"Sam," Elaine started in defense of her sister, but Merry interrupted before she could say anything more.

"I had to," she answered quietly. "I did what I had to. I know I did wrong, but I couldn't just sit here and do nothing. I'm sorry. I _couldn't do that!_ " she snapped, her eyes red with angry tears.

"Merry…how can we _trust_ you? This is about more than just Cas and the baby now. The whole damn planet's about to be caught up in it. How do we know you won't turn on us again?"

"I'm not asking you to trust me. I'll leave if you want. I know you've still got to protect Elaine so long as Dean's after her. I don't care what happens to me. I just want her safe."

"Mer-"

"No," Merry interrupted her sister. "He has to hear this. Sam…I get that you and Dean are _the_ Winchesters. I get that you're the magical, mystical brothers of ultimate destiny. I do. But no matter how close the two of you are, Dean will never be your _twin._ Elaine and I…we were _born_ together. It was three years before we understood we were two separate people. We think and feel together in a way you can't imagine. If I'm afraid, she can feel that fear. If she's in pain, I can feel her hurt. All this time, I've felt what she was suffering at Hannah's hands. I promise you, if you could feel what Dean's going through, there's no way you'd be able to just sit here. I'm not sorry for what I did," she declared before storming out of the library.

"Merry, wait!" Elaine called as she ran after her. That left only Crowley, Rachael, and Sam in the library with the demon and the witch staring angrily at the hunter.

"Moose, you know it wasn't all her fault," Crowley said, voice sounding strangely sincere. "Hannah pulled one over on _me,_ as well."

"And you wouldn't have even been there in the first place if she hadn't gone in guns blazing. She put everyone in jeopardy for-"

"For her sister," the demon finished for him, glaring pointedly all the while. "You'd have done the same damn thing for Dean and you know it. How is what she did any different than some of the bollocks the brothers Winchester have pulled over the years? What is it? You're allowed to throw the world away for your sibling and she's not?"

"No," Sam growled in frustration, briefly burying his face in his hands. "It's not like that. I just…I can't…"

"Eloquent as always, Moosey. You do realize that if Merry _hadn't_ done what she did, Elaine would be dead now. We could never have waited for Cas. Would you have preferred she'd let you know before betraying your trust?"

"Yes!" Sam said, finally meeting the demon's eyes. "Yes, I would have. I just don't want us lying to each other anymore. I've had _way_ too much of that."

"Going to tell her that, then?"

"Yeah," Sam said, giving a long sigh before something occurred to him. "Hold up. When the flying fuck did _you_ become the voice of reason on this team?"

"Strains the mind a bit, doesn't it," the former king said with a cheeky grin.

XxX

When Elaine finally caught up with Merry, it was not in her own room. She found her twin in Hunter's room, curled up with the gunsmith on her small bed. As per her norm, Hunter was clad only in a bra and underwear.

"Mer, it's all right," the older hunter soothed her. "He's not really angry at you. I think he's just angry this happened. We're just all relieved to have Elaine back," she said, glancing up at the elder Serra.

"Why do people think I can live without you?" Merry asked, her face streaked with tears as she looked up at Elaine. "Why do they think that's even a remote possibility? Why did Mom think one twin could live without the other when she _made_ that damn deal?"

"Well…most people don't have twins, Mer. They don't get it. They _can't,_ " Elaine answered softly as she moved further into the room. "I never blamed Mom for it. Not once. I just…I miss her."

"And I _hate_ her," Merry snarled. "She made you feel like you don't deserve to live, and that's _bullshit!_ "

" _And_ you miss her," Elaine amended gently, coming to a stop before the two of them. "You know you can't lie to me."

Merry groaned as she buried her face in Hunter's shoulder. "Hunt, promise me you won't treat your kids like this," she said, voice muffled against the gunsmith's arm.

"I have zero intentions of making any demon deals, so I'd say you've got nothing to worry about," Hunter reassured her.

"Never say never, as they say," Crowley said when he appeared in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Elaine asked, not looking back at the demon. She heard him sigh in frustration before answering.

"Maybe I want to make amends."

"Good," she snapped, turning to face the former king. "You can start by raising our parents."

Crowley winced at this. "Even if I _were_ still the king, that wouldn't be in my power to do."

"Why not?"

"It's been too long. The stories aren't necessarily true when they talk about an eternity of suffering in Hell."

"What do you mean?"

"It's true for those of us who become demons, but not everyone does. Some souls just…become part of the architecture, as it were. They fade into the structure of the dimension."

"Right," Elaine mumbled weakly, not letting herself wonder whether it was better to suffer eternally or to just not exist. "What is it you think you can do then?"

Moving slowly, Crowley came to kneel before her. Then he reached out a hand and wrapped his fingers around the mark on her ankle.

"What are you doing?" she asked just before an intense spike of pain shot through her body, originating from the scars. When he let her go, she dropped to her knees in front of him, gasping in pain.

"Laney!" Merry cried out, but Hunter must have restrained her, because it was still just Elaine and Crowley there on the floor.

"What…what the hell did you do?" she demanded through each labored breath.

"I release you," he said firmly as he looked into her eyes. "I renounce my claim on your soul, Elaine Serra. When you pass from this life, you will go to Heaven."

"You- you mean…" Elaine started to mumble as she glanced back at her ankle, amazed to find that the scars that had marked her for eight years were completely gone. The skin was pale and unblemished. She was free.

When she turned to look back at Crowley, he was gone.

XxX

Crowley didn't know why he'd done it.

No. That was a lie. He knew _why_. He just didn't want to admit it to himself. One of about a hundred things he didn't want to admit to himself these days. Rather than think too deeply about any of those things, he opted to return to Fall River. Only this time, he didn't go alone. Dana, Akilina, and Kaoru were with him as he approached the home of the Circle of Moonrise.

Circe wasn't alone this time either. The Stewart family was at the kitchen table with her. Circe was giving Abigail a lesson in herb craft while Alma looked on, hands running absently over her growing belly. Will was keeping Christian occupied with some sort of clapping game.

"So I suppose you know by now that nobody died," he said as he and his entourage entered the kitchen area.

"I do," the old witch said calmly, continuing to watch Abigail pair up the herbs. Circe was calm, but Will and Alma watched him with no small amount of trepidation.

"And I couldn't help but notice that Gavin's not in Connecticut anymore."

"That is also true. He's upstairs resting."

"I believe I gave you a warning last time we spoke."

"Yes, you did, and I think you and I both know you have no power here to carry out your threats. Not without Hell backing you up. One of us is still nobility, Fergus."

"Please. You've no more access to Faerie than I have to Hell, _Elsie,_ " he said pointedly.

"Be that as it may, I am no less powerful without it. You depend quite heavily on your realm for your power, and I have no intention of harming you, so we may as well talk plainly."

"Elspeth… _why?_ " he finally made himself ask. "Why do you have to dredge it all up again?"

"Because Gavin deserves to know who his parents were. He deserves to know that Fergus Roderick MacLeod was a good man…once. And he deserves to know that he would've been loved had the telling of our lives been different. I _will not_ have you dishonor Nessa's memory by denying her son his heritage," she stated firmly.

Crowley definitely would have said more to this – except that was the moment he noticed Abigail staring at him.

"Got something to say, beastie?" he asked, staring down his nose at the little girl.

"Netzach," she said, the Hebrew word tumbling flawlessly from her young lips. Then, as if in a trance, her gaze drifted to Dana. "Binah."

"Abby? Are you all right?" her mother asked her. When she didn't respond, Alma got to her feet to go to her, but Circe held up a hand to stop her.

"Let her have her vision," the old witch said softly.

Alma looked hesitant, but she seemed to trust the high priestess, so she waited. As the minutes passed, Abigail continued to stare at the two demons. All the while, tears gathered in her eyes, welling up and spilling down her face. When the trance finally broke, she tore her gaze away, sobbing as she buried her face in Circe's chest.

"That's so awful!" she cried out as she clung to the old witch.

"Elsie…what the _hell_ just happened?" Crowley demanded quietly.

"Abby has precognitive abilities," Circe explained as she stroked the little girl's hair, soothing her. "She can't always understand what she sees."

"Well…what did you see just now?" Crowley asked Abigail. He couldn't speak for Dana, but he'd rather like to know what in his future was so awful.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know," she mumbled over and over again, but when she looked up at him again, it was with a mix of hope and pain in her eyes. "Nessa still loves you," she whispered.

At this, Crowley looked to Circe with 'are you bloody kidding me?' in his eyes. To Abigail he said, "Now I know Circe's put you up to this. Ne…she…is long dead. How could something like that possibly be in the future?"

"I- I don't know," she sniffled. "I don't know what I saw. She just…she doesn't want you to die."

"Well, that's not in any way disheartening," the former king said with a roll of his eyes. He maintained the snarky façade for all present, but in truth, the thought of seeing Nessa again awakened something he'd thought himself incapable of feeling anymore.

Joy.

At the same time, though, bound up in that spark of elation was an equal measure of terror. In a way, the thought of seeing her again held more terror than the thought of dying. Was it possible to get more from this girl? That thought must have shown on his face, though, as Circe was immediately interrupting it.

"Don't even think about it, Fergus. It's impossible to direct her vision. There's no controlling when or what she'll see."

"You're sure? I know a few methods of persuasion," he said, though even _he_ felt sick at the thought of executing those methods on a six-year-old.

"For that I may _have_ to kill you," Circe said, her expression hardening. "Don't consider such things ever again."

"Right, well, back to what I'd meant to speak to you about before you sent me off to save the day. I wanted to know if you'd gotten any closer to tracking down Cain."

"I've tried several spells and had no luck thus far, but I'm getting closer. At this point, it's just a matter of patience. We'll find him eventually."

"And I suppose your followers have told you that another archangel has resurfaced."

"Yes. Resurfaced and promptly disappeared again, as I understand it. No one's emerged from Purgatory yet?"

"Not yet. Not sure how long we can reasonably wait before assuming the worst. What with law and order upside down as they are, even an archangel might not be strong enough to withstand the new netherworld. Assuming Gabriel _does_ return, I was wondering if anyone had considered the idea that we have a new archangel blade in the game," he said, raising an eyebrow at the old witch.

"I had at that," Circe said as she rose from her chair, walking Abigail over to her mother, who quickly scooped the little girl up onto her fast-dwindling lap. "What are you aiming for with this?"

"Do we even _need_ to worry about tracking down Cain to get information on the First Blade? If we have access to a weapon of comparable power, why waste the effort?"

Circe thought for several moments before answering. "It seems to me we will find it to be more complicated than that. At this juncture, I see no reason not to pursue all available avenues. Gabriel _may_ be able to help, but he's been untrustworthy in the past. It would be unwise to pin all of our hopes on him. I mean to keep pursuing Cain. If you wish, you can speak with Gabriel about the use of his blade when he returns."

"So the fallen king's come skulking around again," Weaver suddenly interrupted as she strode into the kitchen. Crowley responded to the jibe, but one of his minions didn't hear him.

When Dana saw Weaver for the first time, the world faded away around him. His mind fell back through endless centuries of torture in Hell, back through the fire and the deal that had put him there in the first place, and back through the happiest years of his human life…right back to the moment he'd first pulled her from the sea, the life nearly gone from her lovely grey eyes. It was those eyes that looked back at him now – from across untold centuries.

"Kanozas Wôbigen," he whispered, the old language feeling strangely right on his tongue, even though he hadn't spoken it in lifetimes.

Weaver's face went pale when she heard him. He could feel her attempt to read his thoughts, but he knew she couldn't fully see through his demonic nature – not when she was as shocked as her expression suggested.

"How do you know that name?" the psychic demanded quietly.

"I…she…you're not-"

"What did you say?" Crowley interrupted his rambling. "What language was that?"

"Abenaki," Circe answered for him, her face just as bloodless as Weaver's. "Fergus, you can't have…you didn't…oh, _God._ "

"What? What did I do this time?"

"Kanozas Wôbigen," Circe repeated, eyes wide with horror as she looked at Dana. "In the Abenaki language, it means 'White Willow'. Kanozas Wôbigen was Weaver's mother…my sister. In her first life, you would have known her as Marnie Mac Cionaoith. When she came across the sea to escape my war on the Men of Letters, she was taken in by a band of Pennacook Indians. She took a new name…and she married."

"But…Dana, how could you- oh… _no,_ " Crowley said, voice dropping into the same horrified whisper as Circe's as the pieces came together in his mind.

"Yes. Marnie married a Pennacook warrior named Mahigan Shkiizig – Eyes of a Wolf – but because the English settlers couldn't accept a white woman living among the natives, they were executed as witches. They would have killed Weaver, too…but that her father made a crossroads deal to save her. I don't know how, but your Dana is that very man. Weaver's father."

Dana hadn't looked away from Weaver once during the exchange. The memories were there – across a sea of fire and agony that he wanted no part of, but they were pouring through, just the same.

" _They're coming!"_

" _BURN THEM!"_

" _Consider carefully, Eyes of a Wolf. I will save only one life. Your wife or your child. The choice is yours alone to make. Decide."_

He _had_ decided. He had done what he'd done for his daughter's sake, but he didn't want her to see what he'd become because of it.

"No!" he snarled, turning away from them. " _No!_ " Then he was gone.

"Dana!" Akilina shouted, immediately going after him.

"I didn't know," Crowley growled, rubbing his temples in frustration. "I _swear_ I didn't know. I just knew he'd died for his daughter in the seventeenth century. I had no _idea_ it was Weaver. You never told me how her parents died. Though…I suppose with the small percentage of souls who go to Hell for the sake of another person, this sort of thing was almost inevitable," he finished with a growl.

"So what happens now?" Weaver asked, shocked eyes drifting between her aunt and her uncle.

"Olivia was the only…young demon I recruited for this task, because of her connection to Hannah's vessel. The others are all much older. I was certain their loved ones would no longer be alive…that it wouldn't be a problem. The truly troubling issue at hand here is that if Dean ever discovers that Weaver is still alive, he'll be able to use that against Dana. He'll be able to turn him against us, and make him a Knight of Hell."

XxX

Sometimes it seemed to Kestrel that the entire world was waiting for the Apocalypse. He knew his adopted family was into some very serious goings on, but for the past few weeks he just hadn't been able to bring himself to care much about what was going on at home. All he could seem to think about was Lastelle.

The two of them had gone out on a date the same weekend after they'd first met and they hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other since. They would meet up during their off hours, sneak off together during lunch. They'd made out in just about every bathroom in school, plus several times in the backseat of Lastelle's car. They'd meet up to do homework and wind up with their hands down each other's pants. It was the most heated and intense relationship Kestrel had ever been in.

Currently, Kestrel was leaning against the closed door of Lastelle's bedroom, shirt long since discarded and jeans down past his hips while Lastelle went down on him.

"Oh…ah… _God,_ " he whimpered, hips rolling involuntarily against the other boy as his mouth moved up and down his cock.

Lastelle withdrew briefly, tongue tracing around the swollen head as his sultry eyes darted up to Kestrel's face.

"Trust me, Kes. God's got nothing to do with it," he teased before going right back to his task, fingers digging harshly into Kestrel's hips.

"Ha…ah…fuck," he groaned, fingers scrabbling insistently at the door behind him.

Lastelle hummed against him, the vibration traveling throughout his body and causing him to cry out very loudly – and to very much appreciate the fact that they were alone in the apartment.

"La…stelle… _ga!_ I- I'm gonna… _oh, God!_ " he shouted, head banging back against the door as the dam broke.

Lastelle took him all the way down his throat as he came, holding him in place against the door. He didn't let Kestrel go until he'd milked every last drop from him.

When Kestrel finally felt the tight grip on his hips loosen, he slowly slid to the floor. Lastelle grinned at him as he leaned in to kiss him. He knew he would have bruises in the morning, but he just didn't care. Lastelle drove him so wild whenever they were together, he never felt any pain.

"The floor probably isn't the best place for cuddling," the other boy teased as he got to his feet, pulling Kestrel up with him. Lastelle needed to take only a few steps back before they were tumbling onto his bed. As they curled up together on the rumpled sheets, they traded kisses, fingers running adoringly through each other's hair.

"You are so damn good at that," Kestrel said.

"Well, I've had a lot of practice. None of the other guys were as gorgeous as you, though," Lastelle reassured him as he twirled a single brown curl around his pinky.

"When are you gonna let me go down on you?" Kestrel asked, letting a hand trail down his boyfriend's arm.

Lastelle looked hesitant a moment before answering. "Well…it's not like there's much to go down _on._ "

It was the one thing his sexy, cocksure boyfriend was insecure about. He was transgender and had undergone some hormone replacement therapy. Kestrel had worked him to completion with just his hands, but Lastelle wasn't too keen on showing off.

"Hey, if it feels good to you, that's all I need," Kestrel reassured him, pressing another tender kiss to his lips.

"Actually…I've been meaning to ask you about this," Lastelle said, fingers trailing to the anti-possession tattoo emblazoned just above his right hip. "Seems to be the only ink you have."

"Yeah, it…it's just a tattoo," he said with a small shrug, trying to brush it off. It was the one aspect of his life he couldn't involve Lastelle in.

"It's anti-possession…isn't it?" Lastelle asked, looking up into his eyes with a seriousness he wasn't used to seeing in his boyfriend.

"How- how do you know that?" Kestrel stuttered out, slowly sitting up.

"I wasn't…completely honest when I said my folks were working in Europe. They…they're dead. They died while hunting a kelpie," Lastelle explained, looking away from him.

"Oh…whoa. Lastelle, I'm so sorry."

"It's all right," the other boy quickly reassured him as he looked back up at him. "It's been two years. Another friend of theirs helped me kill the kelpie. I thought I'd…maybe try to live a normal life. Figures the boy I'd fall in love with would be in the life, too," he said as he sat up, pulling Kestrel into a very deep kiss. While the young Wiccan languished in the kiss, all that was going through his head was, _Love? Did he say love? He_ _ **loves**_ _me._

When the two of them finally separated, Kestrel blinked stupidly for several moments before following up with, "I'm not…exactly a hunter. I told you I was part of a coven. A few of them really are witches…and they hunt sometimes."

"But not you?" Lastelle asked urgently, eyes wide with concern.

"No. At least…I haven't yet."

"That's good," he said, pulling Kestrel back into his arms and down onto the small bed. "It's fucking dangerous. I couldn't stand it if somebody else I care about died on a hunt."

"I don't plan to die anytime soon," Kestrel soothed him, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"Nobody does," Lastelle said, a note of bitterness in his voice. He was looking at Kestrel, but something in his gaze was far away, looking at something Kestrel knew he could never see. "Will…will you stay with me tonight? I don't want you to go."

"I…yeah. Sure. I'd just have to let Alma know I won't be back tonight," he said, rolling over to reach for his backpack, where he had his phone stuffed.

"Alma. Is she one of the witches?" Lastelle asked, lazily tracing circles along Kestrel's hipbones.

"No," he answered absently as he fired off a text to her. "She's a Wiccan, like me. She's just…more the mother figure of our family."

"Maybe I could meet your family sometime."

"Yeah," Kestrel said, a stupid grin spreading across his face as he set the phone aside. "Maybe you should," he finished, cuddling up close to Lastelle once again.

If Lastelle really could be part of this side of his life, could look at every aspect of him and still love him…maybe this was more than just young love. As corny as it sounded, even in his own head, maybe this was _meant_ to be. Maybe Lastelle was the _one._

XxX

Of all the tortures to be suffered in the 'tender care' of Heaven's prison system, Metatron would have to say that the absolute worst of them was a very simple thing that probably wasn't even intentional on the part of the system.

Boredom.

After spending centuries gathering stories, to suddenly have nothing to read was literal torture. All he really had to amuse himself with was imagining the imminent downfall of everyone he hated – and when Arakiel entered the prison flanked by Matarael and Tzipporah, he found himself thinking that maybe that day was just a little bit closer.

"All hail the chief," Metatron said, offering the commander a mock bow as the three angels approached his cell. "So, Rocky, did my request for a magazine ever get through?"

"You will show him the proper respect, scum!" Tzipporah snapped at him. "Arakiel is-"

"Your leader?" Metatron finished before she could. "Your commander-in-chief? Y'know, that's where I was a few short months ago. Oh, how the tides do turn. Where will _you_ be in a few months, Rocky? Nobody since Michael's lasted very long in your position."

"Enough, Metatron," Arakiel said firmly. "We are faced with much larger problems just now."

"Oh. So you've seen them. Dean and Castiel," the former scribe said, eyes lighting up as he moved closer to the bars. "You know how powerful they are."

"I assume you know about this because Hannah told you?"

"You got it. I'm the one she first came to for help."

"But why wouldn't she report to _me?_ "

"Because she was afraid you'd take drastic actions, of course. _I_ assume you would have smote our boy's ass if you'd found out about this when it first happened."

Arakiel sighed before answering, "If it couldn't be avoided…then yes. I respect Castiel, but he's been allowed to roam free for far too long."

"Well, there's your answer right there. Whether or not she wants to admit it, Hannah's learned from Castiel. She made a choice. She turned her back on your rule in order to save his life. That's all she's trying to do now," he explained, crossing his arms as he leaned against the bars.

"I don't know why she would be worried. We _tried_ to kill them. It can't be done," Matarael said, the unrest in his voice plain to be heard.

"Mm, well, back then you might have been able to. Only now is it impossible. There's only one sure way to destroy this creature."

"Which is why we have come to you," Arakiel said, though it clearly pained him to say it. "I understand you've set Hannah on a holy quest."

"If you wanna call it that, sure. Mostly I'd just like to go on existing and the angel of Thursday's little bundle of joy won't have that. The only way to kill their spawn…is to awaken Israfil."

Matarael and Tzipporah didn't react. They wouldn't have been alive during Lucifer's little insurrection. Arakiel, though – he could see that same spark of recognition in the old commander's eyes that he'd grown used to. Arakiel recognized the name, even though he didn't understand _why_ he recognized it.

"Who is this Israfil?"

"That we can get more into later. Right now, all you need to know is that Hannah's gathering the ingredients necessary to free her. She could definitely use your help with that."

XxX

Hannah had lost much of her awareness of time after escaping from Crowley. She'd crawled to another chamber in the abandoned mine to allow her grace time to replenish. In that time, she'd been left hovering in something of a dream state. Her enemies could have come and killed her and she wouldn't have noticed.

She saw the faces of all the people she'd hurt – everyone she'd wronged in her quest – Castiel, Gilda, Sam, Hunter, the twins, Matarael, Olivia, Rachael, even Dean and Crowley. All of them – so many faces, and no doubt there would be more to come.

The only thing that kept the young angel from losing herself entirely was the knowledge that she'd obtained two more of the items. She was that much closer to her goal.

_I'm sorry, Castiel. I know you'll never forgive me for this, but all I'm trying to do is save your life. You saved all of us. This is the least I can do._

She was only vaguely aware when another angel entered her tiny sanctuary. She struggled to move even though she knew it was useless. She was still too injured to have any hope of escaping. Only it wasn't an angel blade she felt pierce her weakened grace. It was the healing power of her sibling, whoever it was.

When Hannah's eyes finally began to refocus and she was able to see who her rescuer was, she was in for another shock. Crouching above her vessel, hands held steadily over the bullet wound as he healed it, was none other than Matarael.

"You-"

"Shh," Matarael shushed her before she could say anymore. "Lie still, Hannah. You're hurt. I've come to help."

Hannah kept silent while the angel of rain finished his work, but she was no less tense throughout. When she was fully healed, she demanded, "What are you doing here? The last time I saw you, you wanted to bring me in for interrogation."

"That isn't why I came. Metatron's told us everything. I've come to help. You will have Heaven's full support in your quest. We _will_ raise the lost archangel," Matarael said.

"You…you didn't- let him out, did you? Metatron?" she asked, suddenly feeling nervous. Even though he was giving his aid mostly freely, he was still a dangerous enemy.

"Of course not. He's still locked up. But I think, like most of us, he would rather not have creation come to an end. Therefore we are trusting to his aid…for the moment, anyway," Matarael said, glancing off to the side.

"Well…that's not nothing," Hannah said thoughtfully as she began to pace the chamber, though she was still wary of her new companion. "You know what I need?"

"I do. I now understand why you need Sam Winchester and Hunter Silver alive. Would it be best to just seize them and take what we need?"

"Unfortunately, it isn't that simple. Love and trust are things that must be given. They can never be taken. Not truly. It seems to me all we can do is create a scenario in which Sam and Hunter are _compelled_ to give their love and trust to each other. I don't know if it will work, but I may have an idea."

XxX

"Somethin' I been wonderin' on, Castiel," Benny said to the angel as they moved through the forest with Rose running up ahead of them.

"What would that be?" Cas asked, listening, but still keeping his focus on his daughter.

"Are you sure we'll be _able_ to get outta here? We never did determine if anythin' but a human could pass through that gateway."

"Much as I would like to say that Dean wouldn't have set us on this path if it wasn't possible for us to escape, even _I'm_ not certain of that," Cas said with a pained sigh. "What I _am_ certain of is that Rose will be able to leave here, and if she can leave, we can leave with her. All we need to concern ourselves with is getting out before Purgatory disappears altogether."

"Right," Benny said, glancing nervously up at the encroaching red sky. "And…what d'ya reckon'll happen once this place is gone? Is it possible for Dean to…to break down the barriers between here and the rest of the world?"

"I couldn't say," Cas said after a moment of thought. "While it is his ultimate goal to bring all of creation under a single rule, I don't know if he yet has the power to do that. The barrier between Hell and Purgatory is one thing, but between Purgatory and Earth, that's something else entirely. It will take more than simple cannibalization to erase that boundary."

"And…the boundary between Heaven and Earth?" the vampire pressed uncertainly.

"There was a time I would have said something like that was impossible," he answered before calling out to his daughter, "Don't get too far ahead, Rose!"

"And now?"

"Yet another thing to add to the list of things I don't know. Frankly, nothing known applies in a world where Rose can exist. Everything's being reinvented as we go."

"So what's her-"

Benny stopped speaking and they both stopped walking the moment they felt the change in the air.

"Leviathan," Cas hissed, recognizing the slithy, black feel of the most ancient beasts – a feeling he knew he'd never be able to forget, no matter how many years passed.

"More a' Dean's?"

"No," the angel said, slowly looking to the sky as his eyes widened in fear. "These creatures…they are hunting."

"Rosie!" Benny called out, eyes immediately darting to the completely unaware little girl.

" _Rose!_ " Cas screamed. " _GET BACK HERE!_ "

Rose looked startled as she turned back to face them, but before she could even think of running back to them, four jets of black came careening out of the sickened sky, crashing to the ground and shifting into human form in a circle around her.

"RUN!" Cas screamed at her. She tried, but one of the leviathan had already seized her in his arms. Immediately, Cas and Benny were running at them, weapons drawn and fangs extended.

"Stand down," one of the leviathan warned, a sickening smile creeping across her face, "or you'll find out just what we can do to this cute little muffin here."

" _Papa!_ " Rose cried out in fear.

"It's all right, Rose. Don't be afraid," he reassured her as he and Benny came to a halt. While he was fairly certain they couldn't harm her, if anything in existence could, it was the leviathan, and he really didn't want to risk finding out. "Just…don't do anything. Don't hurt anyone. Nothing bad will happen. I promise."

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Castiel," a new voice announced. As it spoke, more of the black substance shot from the sky, quickly coalescing into a form the angel had the misfortune of recognizing.

"Roman," he snarled quietly. The head leviathan just sneered.

"Who's this guy?" Benny asked him quietly.

"He is the master of the leviathan," Cas answered with disgust. "Putting him in his place was what got Dean and I trapped in Purgatory in the first place."

"And I really hope you didn't think I was just going to let that go," Dick Roman said as he moved toward the leviathan who held Rose. "I didn't know when, but I knew I'd get another crack at you and Dean someday. Looks like today's that day," he said, running a finger along Rose's cheek.

"Papa, I don't like this!" Rose sobbed in fear. "Make it stop."

"It's going to be fine, little one," Cas continued to reassure her, and as frightened as she was, she still seemed to trust him, because she didn't do anything. To Roman, he said, "I don't know if you've heard, but Dean's running things down here now. Most of your kind serve him."

"Why no. I hadn't noticed I only had a handful of loyal followers remaining," Roman jibed at him. "But not everyone serves your boyfriend, Castiel. It's not in my nature to give in, so I stayed one step ahead of Winchester until I could get something on him. Now I have my something," he said, stroking Rose's hair as she continued to cry.

"You're making a mistake," Cas warned him. "This won't get you what you want. If anything, it will get you killed."

"Is that so?" the leviathan mocked. "Word is in the air that no one is to harm the angel and the child and holding them for ransom won't give me an edge over your hunter boy?"

"If you really think that's possible, then you don't understand what Rose is."

"What's to understand? She means something to Dean and to you. I can use that. When Dean learns that I have his child and his angel, I'll have him right where I want him. The two of you will be my bargaining chips," Roman gloated as he took Rose into his own arms. "Now…what shall we do next for fun? What with his lovely daughter?"

Cas was only partly focused on Roman at this point. Most of his worry was for Rose. He could see that she was getting closer and closer to panicking with each passing moment. If he couldn't salvage this situation, they would be faced with the very real possibility of the universe being blinked out of existence.

_Dammit, Dean. Where are you when we_ _**need** _ _you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I don't know much about the Abenaki language, but I did try my best to work out names from it, so any mistakes in those are completely on me. Dear readers, until next we meet, adieu.


	16. Marking Time Waiting for Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously:
> 
> "I release you," Crowley said firmly as he looked into her eyes. "I renounce my claim on your soul, Elaine Serra."...
> 
> "Because Gavin deserves to know who his parents were. He deserves to know that Fergus Roderick MacLeod was a good man…once."...
> 
> "The truly troubling issue at hand here is that if Dean ever discovers that Weaver is still alive, he'll be able to use that against Dana. He'll be able to turn him against us, and make him a Knight of Hell."...
> 
> "Love and trust are things that must be given. They can never be taken. Not truly. It seems to me all we can do is create a scenario in which Sam and Hunter are compelled to give their love and trust to each other. I don't know if it will work, but I may have an idea."...
> 
> "She means something to Dean and to you. I can use that. When Dean learns that I have his child and his angel, I'll have him right where I want him. The two of you will be my bargaining chips," Roman gloated as he took Rose into his own arms. "Now…what shall we do next for fun? What with his lovely daughter?"...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, hell. It's been over a year since I updated this poor li'l fic. Somebody slap me. Not that I expect anyone's still reading this, but if you happen to be out there, I am so sorry. Life and other fics have been calling. I have no intention of letting this one die, though, so hopefully I'll be able to work out a way of giving due care to all of my stories in the coming months. So for all you mystical unicorns out there who might still be reading, I hope you enjoy this.

"I'll tell you what you can do, Dick. You can set my baby girl down and walk away."

Cas winced when he heard Dean's voice from behind him. He had prayed for Dean's help, but now that it came down to it, he wasn't actually sure it would do any good. He was worried for Rose, of course, but…Dean's involvement might just make things worse.

Roman smiled invitingly as he looked past Cas and Benny at the new arrival. "Ah, Dean Winchester. So you heard about my little party."

"I know _everything_ that goes on down here. This is _my_ show now, shithead, so it's 'Your Highness', if you don't mind," Dean said as he moved into Cas' line of sight, flanked by Charlie and Olivia.

"Daddy!" Rose cried out in relief, her voice still tinged with fear.

"Hey, there, sweet girl," Dean said, his focus purely on her now, and Cas felt something inside of him twist in grief and love at the sight of the tiny kernel of adoration in the demon king's eyes. "Don't worry. Your daddy's gonna take care of everything."

"Dean," Cas began warningly, reaching out a placating hand. "Be careful. Don't make this worse for her."

Dean just sneered as he glanced over at him. "As I remember it, _you_ called _me._ Now you got a problem with this?"

"I didn't think you were actually listening."

"It's like I said, Angelface, I know everything that goes on down here. So are you gonna let me take care of this or not?"

Every molecule of his being screamed that he shouldn't. He knew that Dean's influence would only do harm to Rose; he _knew_ that, but…at the same time, their daughter was in the hands of one of the most dangerous creatures in all creation. He wanted Rose _back,_ and the truest part of him didn't care how that happened. Finally nodding, he stepped back, allowing Dean to move forward.

"You sure about this, Castiel?" Benny asked him quietly as they watched the three demons advance.

"Not in the slightest," he responded, eyes remaining locked on Rose. "But I _will_ have her back," he finished, voice dropping into his lowest growl.

"Sure. That I can understand," the vampire returned, passing no judgment, only empathy at the need to keep a child safe.

"Perhaps you've forgotten, Winchester, but I look down to _no one,_ " the leviathan snapped at Dean. "Least of all some upstart pretender to the throne. No demon commands more power than _I_ do."

Dean laughed at this, shaking his head. "I almost feel sorry for ya, Dick. Almost."

Roman's eyes flared briefly in anger as his grip on Rose tightened. "You think this is a joke, Dean? Do you think I've gone soft? Think I won't devour every last morsel of your precious little princess?" the creature demanded, sneering in relish before revealing his true face. Rose screamed in terror at the horrifying sight.

" _Rose!_ " Cas shouted, ready to throw himself on the leviathan's jaws rather than watch him even attempt to harm her.

"That little mosquito ain't anything to be afraid of, Rosie!" Dean called to their daughter. "Look what your daddy can do."

With that, Dean raised a hand, eyes going black, then red as he channeled Rose's power. Sneering, the new king of Hell brought that power to bear on Roman's four lieutenants. One by one, the monsters began to scream, true forms bursting from the human figures before they each melted into black slop and boiled away to nothing.

Roman's figure shifted back to human, eyes filled with fear as he watched the horrific scene. Once his minions had been literally boiled out of existence, he turned back to Dean, demanding, "What have you done? _What have you done!_ "

"Did you not believe them when they said that anybody who didn't bow down was gonna get _melted down?_ Just what did you think was gonna happen when you called me out?" Dean challenged, eying the leviathan with that ever deepening sneer.

"Well…what do _you_ think will happen if you threaten me while I've got this darling monstrosity in hand?" Roman challenged right back, holding Rose up.

When Cas looked between Rose's tear-stained face and Dean's burning eyes, he felt the demon's rage roiling in the space between them. Rather than unleash that anger, though, Dean just started to laugh.

"You're one to call _anyone_ monstrosity, Dick. If you think you even _can_ threaten her, you really don't get it at all."

"I'm warning you, Winchester-"

" _No!_ " Dean snarled. "We are _so_ past bargains and threats at this point. Even if you can't hurt our Rosie, you still threatened her. That's something I can't ever let go. And y'know," he suddenly trailed off, eyes glinting as an idea struck him, "why don't we add insult to injury. I don't even need to kill you myself."

"Kill _me?_ " the alpha leviathan repeated in shock, though his voice was verging on hysterical. "I was the first. I'm older than your reality! _You can't KILL ME!_ "

Dean ignored the creature's outburst, focusing instead on Rose. "Hey, Rosie?"

"D- Daddy?"

"That jerk hurt your papa. He and his kind tore him apart once. It's all right for you to make him go away."

"Dean!" Cas cried out sharply. "Rose, don't!"

But the little girl had ceased to listen to any of them. She stared up at the leviathan who held her, eyes flaring in anger as they began to go red. An angry wind started to whip through the forest as power began to boil from her tiny figure.

"N- no!" Roman cried out in fear, attempting to drop the child and run, but Rose didn't fall. She hovered there in the air, the hot wind stirring her lovely curls into a frenzy as she held up a hand, freezing the most ancient beast in place.

" _LOOK! AT! ME!_ " she commanded in a voice like thunder and void, twisting the leviathan about to face her. Though her eyes glowed red, an aura of holy light began to shine about her, and within that halo of divine fire, Cas could just barely make out the impression of a set of wings. Unlike her angel wings, though, these wings were demonic, red and bat-like.

"My god," Benny whispered in horror as he watched.

"Rose! _No!_ " Cas cried out, attempting to move closer, but finding himself held back by her power. " _Don't do this!_ "

But Rose was far past hearing him. Pulling her victim close, she hissed in a voice that was somehow both angelic and demonic, "You are going to _pay_ for what you did to my family!" Then, as the sky went completely red overhead, the little girl slashed a hand violently across the space between them and slowly began to strip away every particle of Dick Roman's existence, atom by painful atom. She held him in place while she did it, letting him feel everything she did; and with every horrified, agonized scream she drew from him, she smiled.

Rose stripped the leviathan down until there was nothing left, not even a pile of ash or a bloodstain to mark where the colossal existence had once been. She was so thorough, it was almost as if the creature had never existed at all. Once it was done, the light went from her being and she blinked several times, wobbling precariously in the air before crashing back to the ground, unconscious.

" _Rose!_ " Cas shouted, racing forward and gathering his baby girl in his arms, cradling her close against his chest as he rounded furiously on her father. "How could you do this? How could you let her do this?!"

"Sorry, Angelface," the demon said, though the smirk on his face said every inch the opposite, "but she's gotta learn sometime. Her power's not gonna just go away. Isn't it better for her to practice on a dick like that who deserved it…or would you rather this had happened on Earth?"

Cas would have argued, except at that moment the entire space just seemed to _crack._ The whole dimension jolted, tossing them all to the ground like an armful of ragdolls. Cas fought to hold onto Rose, but she was torn from his arms. When he looked to the spot where Roman had once stood, he could actually see the fabric of the dimension begin to tear. The crack in reality widened quickly and in hardly more than an instant it had started to form a vortex, rapidly beginning to pull in the surrounding forest.

"What's happening?" Olivia shouted over the roar of the vacuum, ducking as a tree flew overhead, pulled into the heart of the anomaly.

"Rose!" Cas called out, searching worriedly for his daughter. When he finally caught sight of her, her unconscious body was being dragged slowly toward the vortex.

The angel let out a wordless scream of panic, ready to throw himself forward to save her, but before he could make a move, Dean was already there, gathering Rose in his arms and carrying her back to safety.

"Forget going back to Earth. We gotta get out of here," the demon said urgently as he passed their daughter back to him. But no sooner had the former hunter done this than he began to blink, weaving on his feet in exhaustion. "Oh, you gotta be fuckin' _kidding me!_ "

Cas could feel it, too – the inexorable drain from having shared in too much of Rose's power, pulling him unerringly toward unconsciousness. "No. Not now. _Please_ not now," he whispered. If they went under now, _none_ of them would survive this.

" _CAS!_ " a new voice suddenly sounded on the scene. The floundering angel fought through his exhaustion, looking up to see none other than-

"Gabriel?" he mumbled in shock. "What are…when did you-"

"No time for questions, baby bro. We gotta blow this popsicle stand," the archangel said as he made his way toward them with a demon Cas had never seen before. But before the pair could reach them, the dimensional fabric tore even further, shaking Purgatory up all over again. Barely conscious, Cas lost his footing, feeling the vortex's pull grab hold of him and Rose. He didn't have the strength to hold on! They were going to be pulled in!

"Where do you think you're goin', angel boy?" he heard Benny's voice at the last possible moment as a hand wrapped around his arm, pulling him back from the edge. As his grip on Rose began to slip, the vampire grabbed hold of them both, holding them securely against his chest. "That sweet girl a' yours can't die before she lives."

"Benny…"

His senses were starting to go. He could no longer hear the roar of the vortex or see the effects it was having on the dimension. He looked over to see Charlie and Olivia holding Dean up. The demon met his eyes and in the sudden silence of his fugue state, he very clearly heard Dean say, "Go. Get out."

Dean held up his hand one more time, using the last of his energy to push the three of them safely toward Gabriel and the other demon before falling completely unconscious.

"Dean…" Cas whispered as he watched the two knights disappear with their king, knowing he wasn't long for consciousness himself. His gaze shifted vaguely to Gabriel as the archangel shook his head.

"Cas, Cas, Cassie. Why is it _you're_ always in the middle of the explosion? Mags, you and Fangs here get them back to the portal. I'll catch up in a minute."

Gabriel didn't watch as the demon and the vampire carried the half-conscious angel and half angel away from the swirling storm. He just shook his head again as he sent out a tendril of his own grace to probe at the anomaly. As he'd feared, unmaking the first leviathan had created a well of potential energy, neither nothing nor something, but at the same time _anything_. It was the power of possibility, and that was the most dangerous power of all. It was the power that God alone could wield – and it was what Metatron was gunning for. A well like this could swallow all of creation in a day if it was allowed to grow unchecked.

Heaven would no doubt be sending some suits to scope out the situation, but they would need time to get here and still have at least a little bit of reality left to save. So Gabriel set up a few patches on the tear, being careful to leave no traces of his archangel scent on the seals. They wouldn't hold for long, but it should be just long enough for Heaven to get off its ass.

"Sure hope you a-holes are in the mood to go on existing," he ground out before heading off to join the rest of his ragtag band.

Metatron had wanted to stir things up. Well, he'd definitely gotten his wish.

XxX

Arakiel growled in frustration as he shoved aside yet another record.

The commander had given his support and resources to Hannah and Metatron's holy crusade. God knew Heaven needed an archangel to lead right now, but that didn't mean he was anymore inclined to trust the former scribe than he had been before. As such, he'd been trying to track down information on this mysterious fifth archangel, but it seemed that Metatron was correct in saying that all traces of her had been wiped.

Heaven's records covered nearly every possible subject, stretching all the way back to the time of the archangels, but he could find not even the slightest trace of anyone named Israfil. Nowhere in all of history, from the time of the archangels and the Garden to the current moment, had there ever existed any being known as Israfil, and somehow he _knew_ that couldn't be right. Now that he was thinking about it, the absolute absence of even the name was beginning to appear suspicious. It was a simple enough name – Israfil…the Burning One. Had there truly never been anyone in history with that name?

No. That couldn't be. The way his very being was arguing within itself was already beginning to speak to the truth of Metatron's words. Logically, he knew he'd never heard the name, but still, something within cried out in protest at the notion of law and logic. He felt anger and sorrow and uncertainty the like of which he'd not felt since the time of the First War. What was it about this erased being that could evoke such a strong reaction?

As his thoughts turned more and more toward what was _not_ there to be seen as opposed to what _was,_ the commander suddenly found himself looking at a scroll he'd never seen before. It didn't look any different from any of the other records, but he could tell that it was just from the feel of it. He had been one of Heaven's more brilliant commanders in his heyday and a good leader knows the value of information. He knew what he knew, and this was something he did _not_ know. Reaching for the tag that identified the record, he read aloud from the small slip of paper.

"Record 3434. Year 56 of the Third Epoch. Man's calendar, 2944 B.C.E. Herein is set forth the Heresy of Michael."

_What?_

Curious, Arakiel pulled the scroll from its resting place, bringing it to rest on the central table in the records room before unfurling it. Instead of being written in the typical Enochian, he found the record to be written in hieroglyphics – the language of the Egyptians. As it had been several millennia since he'd seen the language in common use, it took him longer than he would have liked to recall its mechanics, but he was able to summon it up in the end, beginning to read the long-forgotten document to himself.

_By the hand of the Metatron, in the service of Him who is called I Am,_

_It has been forbidden by our most holy brother, Michael, First among Angels, that these accidents should ever be put to record, but my orders come first from our Father, I feel it is my sacred charge to see that_ _**all** _ _events which occur on this planet are set down and made ready to be taken to account. Therefore, I shall tell what I know of these happenings._

_Twenty-five years having passed since the end of the Second Epoch and the Fall of Lucifer, the Rebellion was quelled only with the promise that Michael and Lucifer would be permitted to battle for the fate of creation one final time. Before his retreat into seclusion, Father decreed an era of five thousand years before the beginning of a new epoch and the preparing of a final battlefield. Michael vowed to abide by the decree and promised to keep the law well while the Lord abode in contemplation._

_In spite of his vow, Michael was restive, still angered and embittered over Lucifer's betrayal. Driven by hurt, he sought a way to bring about the Final Battle before its preordained time, and Father, being then in seclusion, had no knowledge of his firstborn's actions. I had thought it impossible for Michael to instigate the Apocalypse ahead of the Lord's determination, but somehow he found a way, locating a suitable descendent of Cain in the blood of the first noble line to achieve dominion over the children of the Nile – firstborn of his father, a baby prince named Khasti._

_An angel was chosen to guard and guide the boy, seeing that he survived to become a man, and though many children were born to his father, Djet, only a handful were marked as Special, hand-picked by the demon Malik to receive Lucifer's favor. Ultimately, as had been prophesied, only one of them was worthy enough to attain the status of True Vessel – Khasti's only full brother, Senedj._

_The brothers grew to maturity together, endlessly loyal to one another in the treacherous royal court, just as Michael and Lucifer had been. Khasti was raised to follow in his father's footsteps and Senedj served as his ever-faithful retainer. Who can know what truly lay in the First Angel's mind, but perhaps it was that he recognized something of himself and Lucifer in the two mortal brothers. Whatever the circumstances, the two princes continued to fight side by side under the care of their guardian – until a plot was orchestrated to break the first seal on Lucifer's cage. Prince Khasti was compelled to enter Hell on a mission to rescue that which was most dear to him – to be led to spill blood as a Righteous Man in Hell._

_None are aware of what occurred during the prince's quest, but whatever_ _**did** _ _happen, the seal was not broken. Michael repented of his decision to bring about the Apocalypse before the beginning of the next epoch and both factions ceased all attempts to break the seals_

Arakiel read through the abruptly ended manuscript several times, still trying to take it in. Was this honestly the only record that existed of such a major event as this? Could it be another attempt of Metatron's to set them all up? Perhaps there _had_ been other records and Michael really had seen fit to have them all erased. He had served Michael faithfully in the past, but he had never really _known_ him, and the more he learned, he found he liked the First Angel all the less. Though, if this was truly an account of Michael's misdeeds and not just another of Metatron's tricks, it would mean that the chief archangel had kept his plans extremely close to the breast in those days, because Arakiel had never heard of anything like this in all his years, and his position in those days certainly would have merited such knowledge.

More suspicious than all the rest, even, was the curious lack of detail in the report. An angel? Their guardian? Even the demon involved had been identified, but not the servant of the Lord? Not the soldier given the honor of this supremely important but sacrilegious task? Was this…perhaps…an un-erased trace of the lost archangel? Could it be that it was more than her involvement with a demon that had led to her punishment? Maybe it had something to do with this open defiance? Whatever the case, he was going to confront the former scribe with this information. It was when he went to note that he was removing the record from the archive, though, that he received another surprise.

When he entered the record number into the scroll at the head of the archive and the ink sank into the parchment, it should have come back with a space for him to record his purpose for removing the record. What came back instead was a single word.

Destroyed.

"Destroyed?" he muttered in confusion. That wasn't possible. Records were not _destroyed._ Never. _All_ knowledge was kept in the archive, unbiased and unedited. How could this be? Growing angrier and more confused by the moment, Arakiel took the supposedly destroyed record and removed it from the archive, only half-amazed when he wasn't stopped. Normally it was impossible to remove a document from the archive without a listed reason, but seeing as how this record seemingly didn't exist, the rules were clearly different. With frustration boiling at the core of his being, the commander stormed to the prison, thrusting the uncanny scroll up against the bars of Metatron's cell.

"What is this?" he demanded, only getting angrier when the former scribe yawned and glanced lazily up at the document.

"Well, from where _I'm_ sitting, it looks like a scroll. Damn, Rocky, I didn't think anybody was still using the Library of Alexandria setting on the archive. You really are old school."

"It speaks of the Heresy of Michael. _You_ wrote this, Metatron, and you wrote it in the hand of the Egyptian people. Why? What is the Heresy of Michael?"

For a moment, Metatron actually looked shocked. Moving rapidly toward the cell bars, his lips moved as he read through the ancient words. After several minutes of this, though, he actually began to laugh.

"It's happening. Holy shit, it's actually happening!"

"What?" Arakiel repeated, slamming the scroll against the bars again for emphasis. " _What_ is happening?"

"Well, you've read it, haven't you? You _know_ what the Heresy of Michael is. That's not really what you're asking me," he pointed out.

"True enough," the commander granted, pulling back a step to try and rein in his anger.

"So talk plain, man. Forget the Holy Ghost Two Step for a minute and just say what it is you want. Why do you think people keep quittin' this place? They get sick of all the double speak."

"The record speaks of an unnamed angel – a guardian for Michael's True Vessel. Is this a reference to Israfil?"

"Heheh, yes," Metatron answered, a satisfied smile stretching across his face.

"But how can that be? If, as you say, Israfil was erased, how can there be a record?"

Metatron sized him up for several silent moments, looking more and more self-satisfied. When he finally spoke, it was to ask, "Anything… _unusual_ about that file, Rocky?"

The commander glared at the former scribe for a moment before nodding. "Fine. Yes. The archive lists the record as being destroyed. I was even able to remove it from the archive without any kind of clearance. I don't see how that can be. Heaven doesn't just destroy records. All of history is kept in that archive. Why would _any_ of it be destroyed? Heaven isn't some brutal regime attempting to rewrite history."

At this, Metatron gave a loud burst of bitter, amused laughter. "Oh, c'mon, man. You _know_ that's not true. What do you think it is we're _doing_ here? We've been nothing but regime after regime ever since God walked out, and even then, well…we already know the guy rewrote his own history, else why would you be here? That scroll is listed as destroyed because, up until the moment your hand came into contact with it, it didn't exist."

"But how is that possible?"

"Something must've happened, something to start God's little retcon moving in reverse. It means Israfil's imprisonment is already starting to break down. I _did_ write that scroll way back in the day. I _tried_ to preserve what was being erased, but even that little scrap was destroyed, along with everything else. What you see there, it's _part_ of what happened, but it isn't the whole truth," Metatron said bitterly, taking a few steps back himself.

"Metatron…why haven't you spoken of any of this before?" Arakiel asked him. "If you knew all of this, why bring it forward only now?"

"Because I _couldn't_ speak of it before now. The memory was left with me, but it was _locked_ inside of me, too. Before Castiel's child was conceived, I was physically incapable of even speaking Israfil's name. I couldn't have told you about it even if I'd wanted to, but things have begun to change. As we get further along the path to releasing her, I imagine you'll see this record shift, too. I'll be able to tell you more, but right now, I'm still limited in what I'm actually capable of revealing. If you want to know more, Hannah and Matarael are going to have to get the rest of those items."

Arakiel wanted to ask more, but he was interrupted when Tzipporah came racing into the prison, visibly shaken.

"A- Arakiel…Sir," she panted out as she dropped to one knee before him.

"Tzipporah, what is it? What has happened?" he asked, making sure to keep his tone even as he knelt beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"We have had…a reaction – a confirmed report from Purgatory."

"What is it? Seraphim class? Castiel?"

"No. No, it wasn't- Seraphim. This reaction…it was Yahweh."

Arakiel froze at the younger angel's words. A Yahweh class reaction – a confirmed sign of the Divine Presence… _Father…_

"And it is…confirmed?"

"Yes. It is confirmed, Sir. What- what do we…what are your orders?"

Arakiel barely had a moment to feel joy at the idea of their father finally coming home to them when he looked up to see Metatron smirking down at them.

"What did I tell you?" he asked with that same all-knowing, self-satisfied look. "Something's happened."

Glaring briefly at the former scribe, Arakiel drew in the angel equivalent of a calming breath before helping Tzipporah to stand. While still holding Metatron's gaze, he said to Tzipporah, "We will send a contingent to investigate. Confirmed though it may be, we must still know more. Come," he said, leading the rattled angel from the prison.

He was so focused on the news of the reaction, he little remembered that he'd left the scroll lying just outside the cell at Metatron's feet.

XxX

Cas remained in that same strange half-awake state during the escape from Purgatory. He was aware of Benny carrying Rose and the demon helping him stumble along. Even more vaguely, he was aware of pieces of the dimension simply breaking off and spiraling away somewhere behind them. He didn't know how he was still conscious when Dean had clearly fallen under, but he lacked the capacity to really reason it out at the moment. When the band finally reached the portal back to Earth, they hesitated only a moment before Gabriel came up behind them.

"All right, kiddies. Hold your breath while we go through the tunnel."

Then they were in motion, passing through a swirl of form and color and shadow that did absolutely nothing for Cas' barely functioning senses. By the time his vision managed to resolve itself into something like coherency, it was to see Gabriel's face leaning over his.

"Rose!" he shouted in panic as he bolted upright, looking around for his daughter.

"Calm down, man. It's okay," the archangel reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him from jumping to his feet. "You're not gonna see her. We're back on Earth. Li'l Rose is with you again."

"With…with…" he couldn't fully repeat what Gabriel had said. He just let his hands drift to the small swell in his belly, faintly feeling the presence of the little girl within him. She was still weak from expending all that power and was resting safely, but beneath her shroud of unconsciousness, he could sense pain. It wasn't anything physical, nothing rest would cure, and he knew they would have to confront it, but for the moment he was just happy they were all alive.

"Okay, what the flying fuck happened down there?" the demon was the one to finally ask.

"We can talk about that later. Right now, I think we should probably be getting back to HQ," Gabriel said.

"Wait…wait!" Cas started, looking around yet again. "Where's Benny? What happened to him?"

"Don't worry, Mama Bear. Got your fanged friend right here," he answered, holding up his arm to reveal the glow of the vampire's soul just beneath his vessel's skin. "Just gotta track down his remains."

"Sam will know where they are. We should get back to the bunker," Cas said, shaking Gabriel off to climb to his feet.

"Hold up there, Mama Bear. Take it easy. For all we know, you're gonna pass out in a sec. I'll call us a cab," the archangel said, and within moments, Lailah had appeared among them.

"Castiel!" she started in relief, moving forward to embrace him. Cas wasn't sure what kept him from passing out altogether when she had him in her arms. He was _so_ tired, but he somehow managed to remain conscious. "You're such a fool, Castiel! Why did you take off like that?"

"I had no choice," he mumbled blearily as he returned the hug. "Or at least…I thought I didn't at the time. Dean knows. He found out about Rose. He and Hannah, they…they _used_ me. They used me to create the fourth item," he said, hugging her a little tighter, feeling for the first time since he'd flown to confront Dean that he actually had someone to lean on.

"I know. We know. Crowley told us. A lot's happened since you've been gone," she said, running a few soothing fingers through his hair.

"How long have we been gone?" Cas asked as he looked up at her.

"Later," Gabriel interrupted. "We need to skedaddle. We're a little exposed out here."

"Of course," Lailah said with a nod, keeping a hold of Cas while reaching a hand out for Gabriel. She waited for the demon to grab hold of her shoulder before flying them all back to the bunker. The archangel and the angel mother both made sure Cas was sitting down before exchanging a few words and one vampiric soul. Lailah disappeared once again as the others began to trickle into the library.

"Cas!" Sam shouted when he entered the room, making a beeline for the angel. Cas barely had time to notice the hunter was still wearing sleep clothes before he was pulled into a brief but tight hug "You're all right."

"All right as can be expected," the angel said as he looked up at his friend. "Did we…wake you?"

"Well, it is about four in the morning, so maybe a little," Hunter said casually as she walked into the library with the twins and Rachael trailing behind. The three of them were in pajamas, but hunter was still in daywear, as was typical of her.

"I'm sorry. I know everyone needs their rest."

"Are you kidding, man? We've been waiting for you guys to get back for _weeks_ ," Sam said. "What's a few lost hours?"

"Fair bit when you haven't seen a bed in a week," Dorothy put in as she entered the library. "Welcome home, kid."

"Hello, Dorothy," Cas said quietly as Atreus and Sekhmet entered behind her, followed shortly by none other than Linda Tran. "Linda," the angel mumbled in surprise.

"Hey, Castiel. Long time, no see," she said with a pained smile. "I hear you'll be joining the noble ranks of parenthood in a few months."

"That is true."

"I would say 'congratulations', but I think the phrase 'good luck' would be more apt, even if it was just a regular human baby," she said. The words seemed to leave a taste of bitterness in her mouth, but even so, the smile stayed on her face.

"Thank you," Cas said with a small nod. "How is Kevin fairing?"

"And now we're getting into the territory of 'long story'," Sam said before the conversation could progress further. "Maybe we should make sure everybody's here first. Where did Lailah get to?"

"Right here," the angel of conception announced as she landed in the room with Benny in tow. "It seemed only polite to ensure that everyone has a body for this conversation."

"Benny!" Sam started in surprise. "You're back."

"Doin' all right there, li'l Winchester?" Benny asked, waving faintly before leaning against the table, clearly wrung out after such a lightning round of flights. "You got one heck of a niece cookin' up there."

"So I've seen," Sam said, gaze shifting between Benny and Cas for a moment.

"He helped us escape from Purgatory," Cas explained. "Rose believes she will be able to purify his soul and allow him to become human again."

"I'm sorry. Rose?" Sam asked.

"Rose," Cas repeated, resting a hand over the swell of his stomach. "Rose is the name I chose for her. I wanted something…human."

"Okay. That I get, but…Rose _believes?_ As in…she actually _said_ this?" Sam tried to clarify.

Cas was about to explain when two more people popped into the room – the two jackal spirits, Tek and Kiah.

"Sam, what has happened?" Tek asked frantically. "It's as if everything's splitting apart!"

Sam glanced between Tek and Cas for several more minutes, his expression having long since gone past Bitch Face. "And I'm officially lost. What the hell is going on here?"

Once again, Cas opened his mouth to explain when he found himself interrupted yet again, this time by Crowley and another demon.

"All right, what have you bastards done _this_ time?!" the former king demanded, red eyes going directly to Sam. "What's a hell spawn got to do to go on existing these days, huh? _What?_ "

" _Crowley,_ " Linda suddenly entered the conversation, voice a low growl in her throat. When the demon looked over and saw her, the red immediately drained from his eyes.

"Oh."

Throwing his hands in the air in exasperation, Sam took a step back from Crowley. "That's it. I give up."

However, just when it seemed the library really was going to devolve into screaming chaos, Gabriel's voice suddenly rose above it all.

"Would you ass hats all just calm your tits for half a minute!" the archangel thundered, and at his words everyone in the room actually froze, held in place by his power. "Okay. That's better. Sorry for the time out, but it seemed like it was necessary. And as long as you're all just standing around, you may as well listen. From what I can see, most everybody in this room wants at least one other person in it dead. Thing is, personal vendettas aren't really conducive to the continuance of reality right now, so if we could all just agree to get along for the foreseeable future, that would be good. Can I get a nod from all of you if we're in agreement?"

However, the room remained stark still after the archangel's declaration and it was only after several minutes had passed that he finally seemed to remember. "Oh, heh, right. You can't move yet. Okay, nod…now," he finished with a snap of his fingers. Even so, the room remained perfectly still. Gabriel glanced between them and his fingers several times, twiddling the digits for a moment. "Is this thing on?"

"We're _capable_ of nodding, Gabriel. The point is that we don't _want_ to," Hunter clarified, turning her head in Gabriel's direction – apparently the only thing any of them could currently move. "A, you're not exactly known for being upfront. B, we're a ramshackle collection of humans, beasts, angels, _and_ demons. You're asking us to blindly trust demons?"

"Demons like existing just as much as you do, sweetheart," Mags bit out. "That's at least one thing we can all agree on."

"Demon or no demon, you're asking me to trust the creature who imprisoned and _tortured_ me, tortured my _son!_ " Linda snarled, her enraged glare burning in Crowley's direction.

"Don't suppose it would help to say I may or may not have changed?" the former king put in.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's true, but that's kinda the thing about you, Crowley. You change from minute to goddamn minute," Sam pointed out. "You want me to list your offenses chronologically or alphabetically?"

"Um…maybe this doesn't help with the decision making process, but…Crowley did save Elaine's life," Rachael pointed out, reaching for the elder Serra's hand as she spoke. "Even when it wasn't really in his best interests to do it."

"There's also…the fact that he removed his claim on her," Merry reminded them.

"Crowley?" Cas started in surprise, looking in the demon's direction. "I've never known you to give up that which was yours."

"Don't read too much into it," the former king snapped. "It just seemed less than ideal to be putting souls in Dean's hands at the moment."

"Word for the wise. Defending your demonic honor might not really help your case right now," Gabriel reminded him.

"If you want to blame someone, blame Moose. I didn't _ask_ to get hopped up on his blood. If anything, _I'm_ the victim here."

"Oh, if you even-"

"Cake holes shut!" Gabriel commanded with yet another snap of his fingers, silencing the room once more. "You all seem to be misunderstanding what's going on here. We are sitting on the equivalent of about a hundred nuclear warheads, and that's actually the least of it. At least Rosie can be reasoned with. Metatron, on the other hand, would very much like to see every last one of us six feet under. Normally, I'm about the last person to be giving the 'stick together' speech, but if we can't forget about what happened in the past, then there's no future. If we can't work together and at least _pretend_ to trust each other, then we might as well just lie down and die right now, save Metatron the trouble. I can see I'm gonna have to take things slow with this gang, so for right now, can I at least get your agreement not to kill each other in the next hour? Is that cool with all you assholes?" the archangel asked, looking around at all of them as he released his hold. Slowly, grudgingly, each of them nodded.

"Gabriel…how do you know- what Metatron's plan is?" Cas asked him.

"Before the battle for the bunker went down, I'd snuck into Heaven to have a chat with the old faker. Things hadn't been looking too far out of the dream team's ability to handle until Miss Rosie came along, so I decided to see what I could get out of him. Hannah didn't just _happen_ to go to him for help. Turns out he's been scheming all this from the very beginning, probably since he saw what was between you and the shorter Winchester."

"But…why?" Cas pressed, feeling something like guilt beginning to tear at his heart. "What could he _possibly_ hope to achieve with all this?"

"Exactly? I'm not sure," Gabriel admitted. "He told me that Heaven was going to attack before I could get anything else out of him, so I just had to come step in. From what I could gather, though, Rose's conception started this whole thing, freeing Israfil and all, and that's somehow going to allow him a stab at becoming the god of our reality."

"But he's done that already," Sam pointed out. "We've stopped him before. What else does he think he can do since Cas destroyed the angel tablet?"

"If Metatron is to be believed – dubious statement at best, but still," Gabriel continued with a shrug, "that was just the beginning. He'd planned to get captured, planned to have Dean become a demon and for the UST between him and Cas to ignite in spectacular fashion. Rose being conceived was the only way to begin awakening Israfil, and I don't know what, but apparently with her is some kind of secret. Whatever it is, it'll allow him to do more than just pretend. The way he was talking, it will allow him to actually _become_ God, and from what I saw down in Purgatory, I don't think that's even remotely outside the realm of possibility."

"So…what _did_ happen down there?" Crowley was the one to finally ask, looking more to Cas than to Gabriel.

"After…Hannah's betrayal…Dean and I fought," Cas began, staring at the floor rather than at any of them. "It had been his intention to show Heaven just what kind of power we now command, but I didn't want us to be involved in the fighting. I knew he could easily destroy anyone that stood against him…and I feared he wouldn't stop with Heaven's soldiers. So I fought to prevent him from intervening. That fight kept us contained during the battle, but…when we finally awoke, I found that Olivia and Charlie had carried us to Hell. Dean tried to tempt me into remaining by his side with promises of protection for Rose…but I knew I couldn't. I couldn't betray what we really are, so I resolved to return to this plane. Dean allowed us to strike out through Purgatory. I saw what he's been using Rose's power to do."

"I'm sorry. Us?" Sam tried to clarify. "You mean Benny?"

"No. We met up with him later. What I mean is that I was able to actually _see_ Rose in Hell and Purgatory. She manifested as a little girl…a lovely little girl with brown curls and Dean's eyes. Our child…she's so beautiful," Cas said distantly, hand tracing faintly over the place where Rose grew within him.

"Cas," Sam started, taking a step forward, but not really knowing what else to say.

"What… _more_ happened, Castiel?" Kiah was the one to finally press. "Tek and I can feel it and I'm sure the demons and the other angels can feel it, too. Why does it feel as if the threads of reality are unknitting themselves?"

"I'm not- really sure _what_ happened. I just know that we were close to escaping when we were tracked down by Dick Roman."

"The arsehole leviathan?" Crowley asked.

"Yes. He'd meant to use us against Dean, but Dean showed up to help us and…and he…"

"He what, Cas?" Sam pressed.

"He told Rosie it was okay for her to make the bastard go away," Benny supplied when Cas was unable to. "I don't rightly know what the little lightnin' bug did, but it was ugly to watch. She pulled him apart, bit by bit, 'til there weren't nothin' left."

"She unmade him," Gabriel stepped in to explain. "She didn't just kill him, she erased him from existence. No chance of ever being remade, unless Rose chose to herself, and that's unlikely. If she'd kept it up any longer, she could have made it so that he'd never existed at all – that none of us would even remember him and we'd have no idea why there's a great big well of potential energy eating up Purgatory as we speak."

"Sorry? Potential energy?" Mags asked him.

"Shyeah. I sure hope nobody thought you could just unmake the oldest being in creation without consequence," the archangel snapped out. "Undoing his existence created a spring of potential energy on the spot where he last stood. It's the most dangerous kind of power there is and _only_ Dad can wield it. Rosie's not even at a point where she can actually control it. She just inadvertently generated it."

"That doesn't- really answer the question," Dorothy pointed out. "Sure, it's bad news, but what actually _is_ potential energy?"

"Pretty much what it says on the label. It's potential. It exists and doesn't exist. It's everything and nothing. It's what came before existence and what will be there after it ends. It's what makes God God. Even archangels can barely tap it. Right now it's tearing up Purgatory in favor of being able to make something new."

"And…what happens if it just keeps spreading?" Elaine asked.

"Nothing will happen because it won't be allowed to keep spreading. I put some bandages on the tear and Heaven's looking into it now. They'll be able to maintain the tear, keep it from getting bigger. On a happier note, it'll probably keep their eyes off us for a little while. Point being, though, that _this_ is probably the real reason Metatron's orchestrating Israfil's resurrection, not your kid," he said to Cas.

"Either way, the archangel's awakening will prove deadly for her," Cas mused partly to himself before looking around at all of them. "And where does Hannah stand in her hunt for the items?"

The twins shared a look before glancing at Cas, then looking guiltily away.

"She got the blood," Merry admitted. "Elaine was captured after the battle and I got stupid."

"Afraid I did, too," Crowley put in without actually looking at any of them. "Hannah wasn't going to let her live and, as I've already mentioned, I don't much care to be handing soul currency to the squirrel king just now."

"So that leaves Hannah with _four_ of the items," Cas ground out.

"And us with just two, whatever those two even _are,_ " Sam said with a pained groan. "I'm sorry, Cas."

"This isn't your fault. How can it be your fault?" Cas pointed out, though he could still feel his wings flaring with tension. It wasn't anyone's fault. How could it have been when Elaine's life had been at stake? But just because there was nowhere to lay blame didn't mean the whole situation wasn't painfully upsetting.

"Even if we don't know what the items are, at least we know who they'll be coming from…somehow," Hunter said. "We still have no idea what the last item is. Maybe it would serve us better to figure that out?"

"Okay. What was that riddle again?" Gabriel asked.

"A mother whose circle is unbroken," Elaine supplied.

"Not anything from said mother? Just the mother?"

"Sounds like."

"Wow," the archangel started up with a chuckle. "Cas? Lailah? You didn't get this? Neither of you?"

"What?" Lailah asked.

"Things _have_ been a little chaotic of late," Cas said, turning the flattest expression he could manage on the older angel.

"Come on, you guys. Seriously? What's the one thing an angel needs in order to manifest on Earth?"

That did it. It clicked at once for all of them, but Sam was the one to finally give voice to it.

"A vessel."

"Yup. So all we need to do is locate Israfil's true vessel, a mother whose circle is unbroken."

"'All we need', he says," Crowley grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "As if it puts us any closer to actually _finding_ this person."

"Well…if this final tenet remains true to form, it will be someone you've already met, or will meet very soon," Lailah speculated. "In my time, I have known every mother on this planet, however briefly. That is…a great deal of backlog to go through."

"So how many mothers do we know?" Sam asked the group at large.

"Well, myself not included, you have at least one present already," Lailah said, nodding toward Linda.

"It would make sense," Cas said after several moments of silence. "She is the mother of a prophet."

"Yes, but how would that mean my circle is unbroken? I don't know of anything that fits that," Linda pointed out. "Besides, the only circle that makes me a mother is pretty well broken."

"And it's just mother and not parent?" Sekhmet asked. "Because Atreus is a father."

" _Was,_ " the tall witch snapped, his typical stoicism slipping briefly into a simmering anger. "It would be the same issue as Linda."

Everyone except Hunter, the twins, Rachael, and Sekhmet glanced to the man, but his expression and the tone of his voice did not invite questions as to his statement, so it was left alone.

"I guess Jody's a mother again," Sam mused in the ensuing silence. "But if this whole circle thing's a family that's not dead, she's got the same deal. Honestly, that's- probably gonna be the issue with most of the mothers we can think of."

"Yeah. This business sorta runs on dead family members," Dorothy said with a wry smirk.

"That could be a way to narrow it down," Elaine suggested.

"Assuming that's what an unbroken circle even _means,_ " Mags ground out.

"It is kinda the only thing we have to go on at this point," Kaoru said quietly.

"So who else have we got?" Merry asked. "I mean, there's Alma. She might fit the bill."

"True. What about Circe or Weaver?" Sam asked, directing the question more toward the members of their coven. "Do we know if either of them have been mothers?"

"Weaver I cannot speak for," Crowley began when the witches offered up only shrugs. "But _Circe_ was a mother once. Best that fate put a stop to _that_ before another one of those could be unleashed."

"Got something to say, demon?" Atreus challenged, throwing a glare the former king's way. "Cuz some of us might not think too highly of it."

Crowley gave a dark chuckle as he looked around at the members of the Circle of Moonrise. "There's lots of things I could say, children. Things and things again, but the least of which is to ask you a question. How well do you really know the woman you've sworn to live under?"

"Hope you don't think you can turn us against her," Sekhmet said as she moved to stand beside Atreus. "For a lot of us, Circe was there at a time when no one else was. Nothing in this world could turn us from her."

"Don't believe that was the answer to the question I asked. I don't care what your opinion of the woman is. I'm asking you if you know anything about her. Do you even know her real name? Have you asked her?"

"We don't have to _ask her,_ " Rachael insisted. "It doesn't matter what she was before. It doesn't change that we're family."

"I don't know that you would claim that with pride if you really knew what tends to happen to the members of her family. The fact is that you _don't know_ who Circe Jones really is," the former king ground out.

"And you do?" Sekhmet challenged.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I would say I know her better than anyone alive today. In fact, I don't even have to tell you anything if you don't want to listen to me. This is a Men of Letters bunker. If you want the truth, go into their records. I've no doubt even a backwater outpost like this has records of one of their earliest enemies. Go into the files and see what they have on a witch known as Elspeth De Súile Dorcha. I guarantee you'll find it _most_ interesting reading."

"We done?" Gabriel asked with a roll of his eyes. "This is kinda what I meant about not going for each others' throats. I seriously doubt you guys have named every mother you know."

"Nothing to do with mothers, no, but there is…something not good you all should know parenting wise," Crowley cut back in.

"And here we were hoping the former king of Hell would have some _good_ news," Merry said with a sneer and a pained sigh. "I mean, I'm not really seeing how this can get _worse,_ but-"

"But you should know better than to ever say something so moronic," Crowley snarked back before she could finish. "I told you why I chose Olivia for this task, but not any of the others. The truth is that they're all very much the same, the demons I've chosen."

"Which means…" Dorothy prodded.

"It _means_ that, somewhere along the line, each one of them made a deal for someone else's sake," Crowley explained as all eyes in the room turned to the other two demons, who both very pointedly looked at the floor. "They each made the decision to go to Hell for the sake of someone they cared about."

"And why would you need a group of demons like that?" Sam asked.

"Call it a change in strategy," the former king returned. "Their kind, the few of them who exist, have something of a stigma in Hell. Lacking any form of greed or ambition, a soul like that is thought to produce a weaker demon, even though there's no factual basis for the bias. After all, Cain is such a beast, and he was once the strongest of all of us. Anyway," he interrupted himself with a shake of his head, "point is that such demons don't usually see service during the varying regimes that move through our hallowed halls of the underground. I've never used them, but then I found myself thinking of some of the, frankly, _impossible_ bollocks you and the other two members of your boy band pull off simply through your loyalty to each other. I wondered if maybe there wasn't something to this whole business, so I sought out the only souls in Hell _capable_ of any kind of loyalty."

"You do get that loyalty isn't a trial membership, yeah?" Sam challenged as he raised an irked eyebrow. "It's something you _earn._ "

" _Anyway,_ " the demon interrupted again, cracking his neck and continuing as if the hunter hadn't spoken at all, "while the decision has proven to work in my favor thus far, Dean's also managed to use it against me…and it looks like he might have the opportunity to do it again."

"Sir?" Mags started, looking up at her boss in confusion. Crowley stood in silence for several moments before continuing.

"All of my other recruits died at least before 1950. Akilina being the only possible exception, I didn't think any of the others could possibly still have loved ones left alive, but I was wrong – _painfully_ wrong."

"Sir…who is it?" Mags continued to press, her voice tinged with a strange something none of the others could seem to identify.

"Dana. He died in 1684 and the daughter he gave his life for is still breathing," Crowley answered with a growl.

"But how's that possible?" Hunter asked.

"Because she's a witch. Most of you know her. It's Weaver McKenna, Circe's darling niece."

"Oh, _God,_ " Lailah was the one to finally voice what they were all feeling.

"Are there- any others?" Cas asked haltingly, finding himself unnerved by the thought of a man choosing an eternity in Hell for the sake of his daughter.

"Well…I admit to being worried after finding this out, so I did a little digging. Kaoru here died in 1868, and while there are…descendants…the man he gave his life for is long dead," he started, gaze lingering on Sam for a moment before continuing. "Mags died in 1925. The man she sold her soul for went in 1940, but their daughter died only last year."

Most of them expected Mags to react to this news in some way, but for once, the mouthy demon had nothing to say. She just stared at Crowley with a completely inscrutable expression, waiting for him to continue.

"As I'd feared, Akilina did prove to be the only other exception. She made a deal for her family and died in 1945. Her husband died in 2005, but up until recently both of their twin daughters were still alive. One of them died just last month and the other isn't likely to live much longer. She's not the one I'm worried about. It's Dana. Charlie, Olivia, and even Dean are all very young demons. They're just coming into their power. But as demons go, Dana is even older than I am. Had he ever been so inclined, I imagine he could've made a formidable contender for Malik's position back in the day."

"Malik?" Sam asked.

"Crowley's old boss," Mags was the one to answer this time, finally snapping out of her contemplative silence. "Malik was king of the crossroads before he came along."

"Back on track here, the point is that I find the notion of Squirrel creating a knight of Hell with Dana's power and experience somewhat disconcerting. I'm completely open to any suggestions on how to keep our squirrel from using this against us."

"Circe will protect Weaver," Rachael insisted. "She wouldn't let anything happen to her."

Crowley actually laughed at this. "Pretty sure we've had this conversation already. I'm not exactly inclined to trust to a woman whose track record is soaked in blood. Circe couldn't keep _anything_ alive, even if she wanted to. I wouldn't trust her with a bloody _goldfish,_ let alone something as important as this. You all can trust your fate to her if you want, but I'll be searching for something better if it's all the same to you."

"Where even is Dana?" Mags asked. "This kinda seems like something he'd want to be around for."

"He took off," Kaoru answered. "When he figured out who Weaver was…guess he just couldn't deal. Lina's looking for him."

"Just one more thing to worry about," Atreus said with an exasperated roll of his eyes. "As if Circe didn't already have enough to deal with in the search for Cain."

"There's always at least one more thing to deal with," Sam sighed. "Even now, there are things we still need to work through, but it's been a long not-quite-morning and I think we could all probably do with some sleep before we tackle any more of it. Anyone else?"

"I'll drink to that," Atreus said, shoulders slumping in exhaustion as he began to head away from the library. Dorothy and Sekhmet weren't far behind.

"Well, I'm already up. So I'll start prepping breakfast, but you guys can go back to sleep," Elaine said. "Food should be ready by the time everyone wakes up. I'm thinking pancakes and sausage."

"I'll help you!" Rachael immediately jumped to join her.

"Would you like any help?" Linda asked them.

"No, I don't think they would," Merry answered before either of them could. As she led Linda from the library, she tossed a teasing grin over her shoulder at her sister. "Kitchen's all yours, ladies."

"And Merry has spoken," Hunter said with a small laugh, bearing the brunt of the flat look Elaine fixed them all with. Despite her irritation, though, it didn't take her long to lead Rachael toward the kitchen. Hunter turned to look at Sam with a tired smile. "Feeling a little déjà vu?"

"Maybe a little," Sam said, returning the smile as he reached out to take her hand. "Have you actually slept any?"

"A little," the gunsmith returned with a shrug. On the surface, the whole exchange appeared casual, so only the two of them knew just how tightly they were each gripping the other's hand. "Been awake for about an hour, so I'll probably just go ahead and get to work."

"Gonna be okay?" Sam asked, keeping his grip on her hand when she moved to pull away.

"I'll be fine," she answered, not resisting the hold too much. "I'll get a cat nap in later if I need to."

"All right," he said, finally releasing her hand to allow her to move toward the music room door. As she walked, she slipped the key from somewhere on her person Sam was absolutely not going to allow himself to think about. Maybe a cold shower would be better than another hour of sleep?

"Is that a colt in your pocket, Moose…or are you just happy to watch her leave?" Crowley couldn't seem to help jibing.

Sam glared at the former king for a moment before allowing the look to shift into more of a smirk. "Well, if it _was_ a colt, _you'd_ be shit out of luck."

The demon's eyebrows rose for a moment before his own smirk returned. "Did you just toss the ball back? Now I _know_ the world's coming to an end."

"The world's been coming to an end ever since it first got started," Sam shot back, voice a strange mix of fondness and bitterness. "Besides, it's not like Hunter needs _me_ to defend her honor."

"True enough," Crowley conceded. "And as I'm satisfied that the world's not ending right this second, there are other matters that need my attention, so if you'll excuse me," he said, nodding once before vanishing from the library with his two minions. This left just the three angels, Benny, Sam himself, and the two jackal spirits.

"Cas?" Sam started, realizing they'd forgotten to ask the truly important question in all this. "How're you holding up with all this?"

Cas thought for several moments before answering. He hadn't moved from the chair he'd been settled into once during the entire conversation, and indeed, he wasn't completely sure he could manage his own feet if he attempted to move.

"I'm not sure," he said, resting his head in his hands. "I saw Dean lose consciousness down there…after the well opened up. I was so sure I would as well, but I haven't. I'm so tired, but I'm afraid if I sleep, I might be trapped…and more of that barrier will be worn away. I don't know what to do."

"If you need sleep, there's not much you _can_ do. You'll have to rest," Lailah told him.

"Not yet," Cas said as firmly as he was able. "Not until I know."

"Well, you _know_ what I think of that decision, but I can't _make_ you do anything," the elder angel granted. "Will you at least go to your room and lie down, even if you won't sleep?"

"I will- need help actually getting there, but I will agree to those terms," Cas conceded with a nod.

"Cas?" Benny called out before Lailah could whisk him away. "How…how's li'l missie holdin' up?"

"Still with us. She's resting now," Cas returned quietly, a hand briefly trailing along the small bulge in his belly as an exhausted smile moved across his face. Both of them knew there was more to be said there. It just wasn't the right time for it.

"All right. Go get yourself rested up then."

"Thank you," Cas said to him as Lailah placed a hand on his shoulder. "Without you, we…Rose and I wouldn't have made it out. Thank you."

"Aw, shucks, angel boy, you'd have figured somethin' out, but you're welcome, just the same. Now go."

Lailah nodded to the vampire, not giving Cas a chance to say anything more before disappearing with him. Gabriel just stretched and yawned.

"Well, this has been fascinating, but I've got some snooping of my own to do, so-"

"Gabriel, wait," Tek protested before the last angel could take off. "I know you have had a difficult time of things-"

"That's putting it mildly," the archangel scoffed. "Good to see you, too, Tek."

"If we could make a request for when Castiel has recovered enough, Anubis would like to speak with the two of you about Heaven."

"Oh, sure. Let me just pencil that in," Gabriel jibed. "Because apparently one of the most powerful beings in creation now plays secretary to Heaven's Most Wanted."

"Gabriel-" Kiah started.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry. We'll be there," Gabriel said, waving dismissively before heading out of the library to who knew where.

"You two gonna hang around or is there work to do?" Sam asked the two spirits.

"As you well know, there is always more work to do, but should you need us, you know you have but to call," Kiah said before she and her partner also vanished into thin air, leaving Sam and Benny alone in the room.

"I guess I never really got a chance to thank you either," Sam said. "For getting Bobby and me out of Purgatory, especially after I'd been such a jerk to you."

"Ain't no thing, Sam. What other way did you know to behave toward a vampire?"

"Yeah, but Dean trusted you…and I should have, too. So I'm sorry for that…and thank you…for me and for Cas."

"Well, you're forgiven…and welcome…though I s'pose if I'd known back then what was gonna happen, I'd've done better to come with you then," the vampire said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"Maybe, but you never can tell what's gonna happen. Looks like we're going to need to get you set up in one of the rooms down here for the time being," Sam said, nodding toward the library exit, indicating that Benny should follow him.

"Room?" the vampire asked in confusion, following after several moments of hesitation.

"Sure. You're part of this now, too. We may not be much of an army, but we've got to stick together if we're gonna have any shot of making it out of this in one piece. You'd be surprised just how extensive this place is."

"A room," Benny repeated, still barely comprehending. It had been so long since he'd had anything even _like_ a room of his own – back during his time with Andrea. Now, to have such a simple thing offered so suddenly and unexpectedly, well…he supposed Sam was right. You never could tell what was going to happen. There he'd been, resigned to Purgatory forever, and along had come a lovely little girl with enchanting green eyes and promises of hope and salvation, and now maybe even…something like home?

_Petite…you really just might be this Rose of Sharon everybody keeps talkin' 'bout. I promise…if it takes the last breath in my body – again – I'll keep you safe._

XxX

Dana didn't really think about where he went when he left Fall River. He just _ran._ He ran as far and as fast as he could. But no matter how far he ran, he couldn't outrun the memories. He couldn't escape the bits and pieces of his former life burgeoning up in his soul from beneath centuries of evil and horror.

The sound of his mother's voice singing a lullaby – his oldest memory – from when he'd still been swinging in a cradleboard…

_Praise for the red dawn_

_Grass that we walk upon_

_Praise for the river's whispered tune_

Learning the paths through the forest from his father…the days before anyone had understood why Red River's clumsy boy had been given a name like Eyes of a Wolf…

" _It isn't just what has been seen for you. You have to_ _ **earn**_ _it. See with eyes unclouded."_

_Praise for the Wind Brother_

_Praise for the Earth Mother_

_Praise the Father Sun and Sister Moon_

Always running after his sister – Icy Rain…the special one…the powwaw's apprentice…the girl everyone loved, but who loved only her little brother…

" _It doesn't matter what they say. You will learn. One day you will see, Little Wolf."_

The powwaw's words when he was still just a boy…that Red River's son would love no mortal woman…that he would see with eyes unclouded…and the teasing he had taken from the other children for those words, for surely it meant he would love something ridiculous, like a skunk or a rat…

_Praise for the high tide_

_Praise for the seaside_

_Praise for the sun at high noon_

The lonely young man they all just called Little Wolf…wandering alone until the day he'd come upon the remains of a ship dashed against the rocks along the coast, her English dead scattered on the sand and in the icy surf…all bloated and milky-eyed…all save one – a girl wrapped in a red cloak that even a naïve boy like him could tell was steeped in strong magic. Clearly it was the garment alone that had saved her from the fate of her tribesmen.

The soaked, pitiful, bedraggled thing lying at his feet had looked up at him with sick, fearful eyes, life barely sparking in them. However, even in their exhaustion, he had seen beauty in those eyes – a strange color he'd never before seen in human eyes…grey with flecks of green and gold. It had only been when he'd looked into those eyes for the first time that he'd begun to understand the powwaw's words.

_Marnie._

Marnie Mac Cionaoith had been unlike any other settler he'd known. Even after being brought back from the brink of death, she'd had no wish to join her people in any of their settlements…always said they wouldn't want her…that they would drive her out if they knew who she was.

" _Even now, she protects me. Her power saved me and guided me to the only harbor in all the world that would accept me."_

Though she was mysterious and she kept a large part of her heart hidden away, there had also been a sense of childlike wonder about her. She'd been amazed just to see the sun rise each morning and to hear the rain pattering on the river during a spring shower. The world was beauty itself to her…and she was beauty itself to _him._

" _Something dark haunts her steps. Her heart is good, but there is blood on her footprints. She is Manitou – a strong spirit – no woman of mother and father born."_

No mortal woman. That was what they'd said. He'd heard it all, but it was not for the sake of the half-whispered prophecy of his name that he loved her. No. He loved her because he saw the truth of her. He saw her with eyes unclouded – his beloved White Willow.

Even as the world had begun to spiral out of control around them, with conflict between the Abenaki and the English erupting in ever more violent ways, even so, they'd been happy together. He'd had White Willow for his wife and in her womb, she'd carried the seed of their love – a baby girl more beautiful than the moon among the stars. Nanatasis – their Hummingbird.

Their time together had been all too brief, over in no more than a flash. He hadn't fully been able to comprehend all the things White Willow had tried to explain to him in that final stretch of time. All he'd really been able to grasp was that someone was coming for her. Though she'd hardly been recognizable as the Englishwoman he'd reclaimed from the sea all those years ago, someone from that hidden past had known her, had convinced his fellows that only a witch would choose to live among savages. They'd been captured.

" _Did you truly believe you could escape, Marnie? I made a vow to see that every last drop of fey blood in this world was eradicated. You and your unholy seed will be put to the torch. Not even your murderous sister can save you now!"_

They were to be executed together, but at the last moment, a strange man had come to their cell offering him a deal.

" _In exchange for your soul, I will save either White Willow or Hummingbird. One or the other will die with you."_

" _No! You cannot do this! He does not understand. Make a deal with_ _ **me!**_ _Take me instead."_

" _No. I deal with your husband or not at all."_

" _What is it that he wants?"_

" _Maybe…it would be better if we all just died together. If you do this...your soul will not pass to join the ancestors. It will belong to him. We will be apart for eternity. I will never see you again."_

" _But…Hummingbird…she will live?"_

"… _Yes."_

" _And there is nothing I can do to save_ _ **you?**_ _"_

" _A life for a life. Consider carefully, Eyes of a Wolf. I will save only one life. Your wife or your child. The choice is yours alone to make. Decide."_

" _All right."_

With a kiss, the deal had been sealed and their little girl had been spirited from the cell, leaving the two of them to their final embrace.

" _How could I do it? How could I let him do this to you?!"_

" _Because it was the only way we could save her. I will never regret it, my love."_

And the men had come for them. Their leader had been enraged at the loss of White Willow's child, but the execution had gone forward anyway. They'd been dragged through the town, out to a cleared patch at the edge of the forest and bound to stakes. The men had spit on them and taunted them shamelessly, but they'd ignored them. Their pettiness had been nothing against the last moments he and his love would be together.

He hadn't watched them prepare the fires or light them. He'd kept his gaze fixed on White Willow's the entire time, not watching her burn – not hearing the blaze roar and crack or seeing her skin roast and peel from her bones – no. He'd just looked into her eyes, pressing them into his soul, focusing on her to keep from feeling the agony of his own end – just being with her until he saw the light go from those eyes, eyes that had changed his world from the moment he'd looked into them.

Once she was gone, safe away from the pain and torment, he'd seen her rise above it all, above the smoke and fire and up into freedom, and when she'd looked back down at him he'd felt himself begin to rise up after her – but just as quickly, he'd felt himself held down, unable to be with her.

" _You only get to watch."_

And a look of horror had been the last he'd seen in her eyes. Desperate to comfort her, in spite of his own despair, he'd given her one last smile.

_Have no fear. I do not regret it. I will never. I will love you always._

And he had. It had been the only thing that had given him enough strength of will to become a demon rather than simply fading away beneath torture. Until he'd looked into Weaver's eyes, he'd forgotten the reason _why,_ but that love had still been there. He had no idea when Eyes of a Wolf had become Dana, but it happened to all of them eventually. You needed to abandon what you'd lost in order to accept what you'd become. And when he finally started to think again, to take note of his surroundings, he realized where he'd run to with a rush of horror.

He'd come to the place where it had happened.

In the grand scheme of things, it didn't really mean anything. It was just a small patch of ground in a forest somewhere in Maine. It was nothing. But for him, it was what he had lived and died for, all represented by a single stretch of earth and a small collection of boulders, still stained with the ashes of their execution all these years later.

Nothing had grown in the place where they'd burned. He knew that a settlement had once been here, but there was no trace of it now – deserted and long since reclaimed by the forest, no doubt. Perhaps the murder of one such as White Willow had been had left its own mark on the land – and its own curse on the men who had carried it out. At least there was _something_ to soothe the ache in his scorched soul.

Kneeling slowly in the dust before the boulders, Dana let his gaze sweep the stain of ashes on them – until his eyes picked out a faint impression in the dim predawn light.

A small handprint.

Hummingbird. Weaver.

He didn't know _how_ , but something inside of him _knew_ with absolute certainty that his daughter had been here – had come to see the place where her parents died. Feeling a wave of anger and anguish move through him, he pounded a fist against the rock beside the small impression. It did nothing to affect the centuries old stains, but it made him feel a little better.

"Dana?" he suddenly heard Akilina's voice from behind him. He would admit to being grateful when she didn't actually approach him.

"This is where it happened," he said quietly, not turning to face her. He knew she'd heard everything Circe had said. "This is where we died…where _she_ died."

"Well…at least you know it wasn't for nothing. That deal's bought your daughter a good long life."

"True enough," he granted as he shifted into a sitting position, reaching a hand out to trace a circle around the impression. "What about you? Do you remember…where you died?" he asked, still not looking at her. It wasn't a subject that was typically discussed among there kind, if at all. Really, it was better to try and think that they'd always been as they were now…than to try and think about the things that had been.

"A long way from here," she responded, her voice tightening up for a moment as she moved closer to him. "In Poland. It was…1945 or 44…so not nearly so long ago as you."

"And…was it worth it?" he asked as he laid his hand over his daughter's handprint, imagining he could see her kneeling in the spot where he was sitting now.

"You should know better than to ask that question…Dana," she said as she sat down beside him. "I don't know what the answer is. If you're asking me if I'd do it again…knowing what I know now…and I had the choice to make all over again, the answer to _that_ question is 'yes'. Inescapably. Do I know if my sacrifice _meant_ anything? No. I have no idea. I don't know if my family lived well after we were separated. I don't know if any of them lived long lives or if they died the next year. I don't know, and I've never felt compelled to find out. Whatever end they came to…I'm just satisfied knowing they didn't have to suffer the horrors I went through. The one thing I _do_ know was worth it…is that I was there in Hell when the man who put me there came down to join us. I was there to personally pay him back tenfold for every torture he'd inflicted on me. That was worth everything," she finished, her voice hard with cold fury. When Dana looked over at her, he found she wasn't looking at anything. She was just staring straight ahead, at something far off that only she could see. Not daring to interrupt her reverie, he simply waited for her to return to the present moment, just as he'd had to. When she finally did, it was with a tired smile. "Well, hey, I guess you'll get the chance to find out if it was really worth it. You'll get to meet her."

"Really think that's a good idea?" he pondered, half to himself and half to her. "Things like this…they can only lead to trouble. Right? I mean…look what happened to Olivia."

"Heh, you're going to, Dana. Don't pretend like you're not. I know you. You're going to talk with this woman and you're going to relive every moment of her life with her. Not just because you want to feel like what you went through meant something; you already know that it did. It's because she's your daughter, and you really want a chance to be her father, even if it's centuries after she's needed one."

"And…what happens if she won't talk with me?" he pressed. "After all, it- it can't be a very _pleasant_ experience…learning your father's a demon. Is forgiveness…even possible?"

"There I cannot help you. Never tried, myself. That's your call to make."

"I…" he started, reaching a hand forward to trace along the handprint one last time. It was an impossibly tough call to make. In Hell…perhaps it was the thought of a confrontation like this that had always kept him believing he could endure worse. What would happen to him if it went badly? But then…what did he _really_ have to lose?

"I'm going to try," he said as he got to his feet.

XxX

_The next time Dean wakes up, he finds himself expecting to see Cas again. Only it's not the angel standing across from him._

_He's looking at himself._

_It isn't like his encounters with Cas. Instead of a barrier between them, there's an open pit of fire. As he looks through the flames at his mirror image, he sees the other's features twist into a sneer, his eyes going black._

" _Hey there, beautiful."_

" _You're him, aren't you," he says, glaring contemptuously at the doppelganger. "The demon."_

" _Heh, him? What him? Ain't no him. It's just_ _ **you.**_ _We're all the same beast here. Just Dean Winchester."_

" _That's where you're wrong," Dean snaps back as the two of them begin to circle the fire. "I would_ _ **never**_ _do the things you've done."_

" _That_ _ **we've**_ _done. That_ _ **you've**_ _done," the demon corrects with an indulgent sneer. "There's no part of me that wasn't born from you. I'm just the unrestrained you. I'm the you that's_ _ **free.**_ _"_

" _Bullshit."_

" _Don't give me that, man. We both know you'd do anything to take on the powers that be."_

" _I wouldn't kill innocent people," he argues._

" _If it was to protect your family, you would, and let's face it, that's exactly what I'm doin'."_

" _They're gonna stop you, y'know. Sam and Cas."_

_At this, the demon laughs. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure they would…if you hadn't asked our dear angel baby not to cure you."_

_For a moment, Dean ceases the circling movement, freezing in place as he stares at his counterpart._

" _Heh, thought I didn't know about that, didn't you. Cute. Seems to me you've developed a taste for it, this doin' what you want because you want it."_

" _Don't lump me in with you, asshole. I asked Cas to let you hang around because we've got bigger problems than your demon ass right now," Dean says as he shakes himself off, quickly resuming the circling._

" _So you admit you're better with me."_

" _Stronger. Not better," Dean clarifies._

" _This from the guy who said he preferred the_ _ **purity**_ _of Purgatory?" the demon mocks. "You don't even know what's goin' on out there."_

" _I know demons are and always will be complete sacks of shit, so it doesn't really matter what the situation is."_

_Again, the demon laughs. "Aw, hell, but that is Dean Winchester all over. The one thing you hate most in the whole damn world…and you're completely willing to use it to get what you want. Wanna remind me how we're different again?"_

" _Oh, come off it, dick wad. What do you think you can tell me that a shot of African dream root didn't already say?" he challenges, throwing his arms wide as if welcoming a blow. His demonic side just sneers in response._

" _Well, you said it yourself, didn't you? That wasn't real. This? This ain't no dream. This is you. This is what you chose. Back then, you didn't understand what dying meant, but now you've been through the door. You can see the_ _ **possibilities.**_ _Sam, Cas, Kevin, Charlie, Elaine, Mom, Bobby, Dad, Jo, Adam,_ _ **Rosie!**_ _They all deserve better! They deserved_ _ **so much**_ _better than what they got._ _ **We**_ _deserve better," he snarls, violently gesturing across the space between them. "You. Me._ _ **Dean.**_ _This whole damn world deserves better…and I'm gonna give it to 'em."_

" _How?" Dean demands, voice much quieter than the anger boiling in his gut warrants. "By abusing Rosie's power? The power we created by…by hurting Cas," he finishes, closing his eyes as he turns away from his other self. He knows he won't be able to take the look in the demon's eyes when he talks about this._

" _Don't stand there and piss self-righteousness at_ _ **me,**_ _Dean. I only did what you've wanted to do since you first laid eyes on him in Hell. Maybe you'll never say it to him, but it was fuckin' love at first sight. I know you don't remember it yet, but when he came for you, when you saw that halo shinin' in the dark, you saw_ _ **him.**_ _You saw the_ _ **truth**_ _of Castiel, nothin' separating you – just you and him. Didn't matter that you weren't worthy, that you couldn't be further apart from each other. He was your fuckin' savior. He was yours and you were his. You_ _ **loved**_ _him, and even after you figured that out back on Earth, you were too much of a_ _ **coward**_ _to admit it. You never would have. You wanted him. So I_ _ **took**_ _him. Nothing you say will ever convince_ _ **anyone**_ _you didn't want it."_

_Dean swallows heavily as he opens his eyes, still looking away from his darker half. He knows there's no point in denying wanting Cas. That cat's out of the bag and on the other side of the world. But…_

" _I never wanted to hurt him."_

" _ **He**_ _doesn't see it that way," the demon points out._

" _No, he wouldn't. Doesn't mean we didn't hurt him," Dean says as he finally looks back up at the demon. "Is that how you plan on givin' everyone better? Hurtin' 'em first? Don't we end up like this every time you take too much from Rosie?"_

" _Maybe that's the real Winchester legacy. Fathers who use their kids. 'Cuz you_ _ **know**_ _that Dad saved you and Sammy the only way he could. Not much difference here. Because of what Rosie is, this is the only way we can save her."_

" _Oh, you are_ _ **not**_ _gonna compare my parenting to John Winchester's. You're just not gonna do it," Dean snarls at himself._

 _The demon shakes his head as he sighs. "I don't really_ _**have** _ _to compare it. The evidence pretty much speaks for itself. You wanna know what got us here? Have a look," he says with a snap of his fingers. Immediately, an image appears above the fire – an image of himself, Dick Roman, and a little girl with his eyes and Cas' hair._

"That jerk hurt your papa. He and his kind tore him apart once. It's all right for you to make him go away."

" _LOOK! AT! ME!_ "

_And as Dean watches his sweet little girl strip away the first leviathan atom by atom, he feels a growing tide of horror gripping at his heart, and the demon's soon casually giving voice to every secret word contained in that tide._

" _You get it now, don't you._ _ **This**_ _is what you chose when you asked them not to cure you. It's more power, yeah, but more power to encourage_ _ **this?**_ _How is this any different from the first time Dad put a gun in our hands? You've_ _ **become**_ _Dad, Dean!"_

" _SHUT UP!" he screams as the dreamscape shatters around them. The image of Rosie's power twists into smoke and the demon is lunging through the fire, hands clawing for his fragile soul –_

– but then Dean found himself shooting up from a bed, panting harshly as his gaze darted around.

"Damn! _Damn!_ " he snarled as he realized what had happened. "I almost fuckin' had it!"

"Good dreams, boss?" Olivia asked as she moved into view from the shadows of the room.

"I almost got through the barrier that time. One more second and I would've had him," Dean growled in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck it. Next time. What- what happened with Purgatory?"

"Well, if we're reading everything correctly, it looks like your little Rose basically punched a hole through reality when she got rid of Dick Roman. There's a group of angels maintaining the break. Charlie's keeping an eye on them."

"Get someone else on that. Get Charlie back here," Dean ordered as he got to his feet, calling the First Blade to his hand. "We've got work to do."

"Whatcha thinkin'?"

"I'm thinkin' that with Heaven occupied, it's a good time to create another knight. I need more…and I've got the perfect candidate in mind."


End file.
